World Championship schedule for the senior and junior national teams confirmed
At the IIHF Congress in Prague, France was awarded the hosting rights for the 2028 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. The hosts for the women’s and junior competitions for the coming season were also confirmed.
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France last co-hosted the World Championship alongside Germany in 2017. In 2028, the World Championship will be held in France for the sixth time overall. The host cities are Paris and Lyon.
The schedule for the upcoming Men’s World Championships is as follows
2025: Stockholm (SWE) and Herning (DEN) – 09 to 25 May.
2026: Zurich and Fribourg (SUI) – 15 to 31 May.
2027: Düsseldorf and Mannheim (GER) – 14 to 30 May.
2028: Paris and Lyon (FRA) – 12 to 28 May.
Women travelling to China again
The Women’s World Championship Division IA will once again take place in Shenzhen from 9 to 14 April 2025. China has secured the hosting rights for Division IA three times within five years. When it hosted the tournament for the first time in 2023, China earned promotion to the Top Division, only to be relegated again this spring. Following the home World Championship in Klagenfurt last April, Anna Meixner & Co. will once again embark on their promotion mission in the Land of the Rising Sun in 2025.
Junior teams: Slovenia and Hungary twice
The U20 and U18 teams will not have far to travel. The U20 World Championship Division IA will take place in Bled (SLO) from 9 to 15 December 2024, while the U18 World Championship Division IA will be held in the Hungarian city of Szekesfehervar from 20 to 26 April 2025. Hungary has also expressed an interest in hosting the U18 Women’s World Championship Division IA. The decision will be made at the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress in the autumn.
Olympic qualifying
There are still three places up for grabs in both the women’s and men’s competitions for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d´Ampezzo. Both ice hockey tournaments will be staged in the fashion capital. Between 29 August and 1 September, Austria’s men will face hosts Slovakia, Kazakhstan and Hungary in Bratislava.
The women will play their qualifying tournament during the February break from 6 to 9 February 2025. Their opponents and the venue have yet to be confirmed.
Austria’s men are also still waiting to find out where they will play at the 2025 World Championship. The 2025 World Championship will be hosted by Sweden and Denmark, with Stockholm (SWE) and Herning (DEN) as the venues.
