The 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship will be the 25th edition of the Top Division of the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The tournament will be contested in Herning and Esbjerg, Denmark from 6 to 16 November 2026.
The following two countries chose to bid:
Due to scheduling issues, the hosts announcement was delayed to October 2025. On 3 October 2025, Denmark was awarded the hosting rights at the Semi Annual Congress in Nice, with Herning and an unknown second city hosting the tournament. This marks Denmark's second time hosting after 2022.
Ten teams will take part in the competition for the seventh time. Hungary and Norway were immediately relegated back to Division I after only appearing in the 2025 edition. They will be replaced by Division I champions Austria, who will make their debut in the top division, and runners-up, Denmark, who secured their immediate promotion back to the top division. Denmark would later be awarded the hosting rights as well.
The serpentine system was used to organise the groups (rankings in brackets).
Two venues will be used for the tournament. When Denmark was awarded the hosting rights, it was announced that Herning and an unknown second city would host the tournament. That city would be Esbjerg, as they were announced as the secondary host on 22 December 2025, with the Granly Hockey Arena as the venue.
Herning had previously hosted the 2022 edition while also hosting the men's edition in 2018 and 2025.
The teams will be split into two groups, using the serpentine system. The top four teams continue to the knockout phase, while the bottom teams will be relegated. During the knockout stage, there will be a re-seeding after the quarterfinals.
The groups were based on the final rankings from the previous tournament.
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There will be a re-seeding after the quarterfinals.
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