Ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics

The ice hockey competitions of the 2026 Winter Olympics will be played at two venues located in the Milan cluster. The PalaItalia and Fiera Milano.
The men's tournament will have 12 teams competing, and the women's tournament 10. Russia and Belarus are currently banned from competing in international championships through the IIHF's 2024 program due to their military aggression in Ukraine. The decision on whether to expand the ban has not been made yet and may impact the championship.
==Venues==
PalaItalia	Fiera Milano
PalaItalia	
Milan 	Milan
==Men's tournament==
The tournament will feature twelve countries, eight qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host Italy, and three through qualifying tournaments. The format remains the same as the previous three Olympics; three groups of four compete in three games to determine seeding, each play every other team in their group, followed by four rounds of elimination games. Each group winner receives a bye into the second round, along with the highest ranked of the remaining teams. The remaining eight teams play an eliminating qualification game to advance to the quarter-final round. Each quarter-final winner advances to the semi-finals with the winners playing for the gold medal and the losers playing for the bronze. 
===Qualification===
Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. The top eight will be joined the hosts and three qualifiers.
===Participating nations===
The groups were established following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. Qualifiers one, two, and three, are the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation will be determined by their qualification seeding.
Group A	Group B	Group C
*
*
*
*	
*
*
*
*Qualifier 3	
*
*
*Qualifier 1
*Qualifier 2
==Women's tournament==
Ten countries will again compete in the women's tournament, six qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host Italy, and three through qualifying tournaments.
===Qualification===
Qualification for the women's tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships.
===Participating nations===
The groups will be established following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. Qualifiers one, two, and three, are the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation will be determined by their qualification seeding.
Group A	Group B
*
* 	
*Qualifier 1
*Qualifier 2
*Qualifier 3
*
==Qualification summary / Participating NOC's==
Nations 	Men	Women	Athletes
 	 	 	48
 	 	 	25
 	 	 	25
 	 	 	25
 	 	 	48
 	 	 	25
 	 	 	25
 	 	 	25
 	 	 	48
Total: 9 NOCs	9 	3 	294
==References==
 
2026
Winter Olympics
2026