Ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics – Men's qualification

Qualification for the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. The host along with the top eight teams in the world ranking receive automatic berths into the Olympics, while all other teams have an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots.

Qualified teams

Event	Date	Location	Vacancies	Qualified
Hosts	23 May 2023	Tampere	1	Italy
2023 IIHF World Ranking	3 March 2020 – 28 May 2023	Tampere and Riga	8	Canada  Finland  Russia  United States  Germany  Sweden  Switzerland  Czech Republic
Final qualification tournaments	29 August – 1 September 2024	Bratislava	1
		Riga	1
		Aalborg	1
Total			12

Notes

Qualification seeding

To qualify directly, a nation had to be ranked in the top eight following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. In the IIHF World Ranking system, ranking points from the most recent year are weighted at full value, and points from each preceding year are worth 25% less.

	Qualified directly to Olympic tournament
	Entered in final Olympic qualification
	Entered in pre-qualification round 3
	Entered in pre-qualification round 2
	Entered in pre-qualification round 1 (cancelled)
	Did not enter Olympic qualification

Qualifying seed	Team	WC2023 (100%)	WC2022 (75%)	OLY2022 (75%)	WC2021 (50%)	WC2020 (25%)	Total
1	Canada	1600	1160	1040	1200	1200	4150
2	Finland	1420	1200	1200	1160	1120	4080
3	Russia	1520	1120	1160	1060	1160	4050
4	United States	1500	1100	1060	1120	1040	3940
5	Germany	1560	1020	940	1100	1020	3835
6	Sweden	1440	1040	1100	960	1100	3800
7	Switzerland	1460	1060	1000	1040	1000	3775
8	Czech Republic	1400	1120	960	1020	1060	3735
9	Slovakia	1360	1000	1120	1000	960	3690
10	Latvia	1520	940	920	920	940	3610
11	Denmark	1340	960	1020	900	900	3500
12	Norway	1280	880	880	880	920	3270
13	France	1300	900	860	840	800	3240
14	Belarus	1260	860	840	840	880	3175
15	Kazakhstan	1320	860	700	940	840	3170
16	Austria	1260	920	800	780	780	3135
17	Slovenia	1220	800	820	740	740	2990
Host	Italy	1160	840	740	820	860	2970
18	Hungary	1240	780	780	720	720	2950
19	Great Britain	1200	820	660	860	820	2945
20	South Korea	1140	740	720	760	760	2805
21	Poland	1180	700	760	700	660	2790
22	Romania	1120	720	640	660	700	2645
23	Lithuania	1100	760	600	680	680	2630
24	Japan	1080	680	680	640	640	2580
25	China	1040	600	900	500	480	2535
26	Ukraine	1060	660	620	600	600	2470
27	Estonia	1020	640	580	620	620	2400
28	Netherlands	1000	580	560	580	560	2285
29	Serbia	980	620	500	560	580	2245
30	Croatia	920	560	540	540	540	2170
31	Spain	960	540	520	520	500	2140
	Israel	880	520	420	460	460	1950
32	Iceland	860	480	480	440	420	1925
	Australia	900	560	—	480	520	1710
33	Bulgaria	800	420	380	340	340	1655
34	Mexico	740	400	360	400	360	1600
35	Turkey	760	340	460	300	300	1585
36	United Arab Emirates	840	360	320	200	220	1505
	Belgium	820	440	—	420	440	1470
37	Chinese Taipei	720	300	440	240	240	1455
	New Zealand	780	440	—	360	400	1390
	Luxembourg	640	280	300	280	260	1280
38	Thailand	660	220	340	140	160	1190
	Turkmenistan	700	320	—	260	280	1140
39	Kyrgyzstan	600	160	400	100	100	1095
40	Hong Kong	560	220	280	180	180	1070
41	Bosnia and Herzegovina	580	200	260	160	140	1040
42	South Africa	680	240	—	220	200	1020
43	Kuwait	440	80	240	120	120	770
	Singapore	540	120	—	40	—	650
	Malaysia	500	100	—	80	80	635
44	Georgia	0	460	—	380	380	630
45	Iran	520	140	—	—	—	625
	Philippines	480	100	—	60	60	600
	North Korea	—	360	—	320	320	510
	Mongolia	460	—	—	—	—	460
	Indonesia	420	—	—	—	—	420

Pre-qualification Round 1

The round was cancelled. It was meant to be held between 8 and 12 November 2023, and consist of two groups of five teams. Teams entered in Group N were United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Georgia, while teams entered in Group O were Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Africa and Iran.

Chinese Taipei, Thailand and South Africa accepted invitations to compete in Round 2. Georgia also entered Round 2 after the withdrawal of Mexico.

Pre-qualification Round 2

Twelve countries played in three tournaments to determine qualifiers for the next round. The three tournament winners were ranked by their qualification seedings and entered the next round as qualifier seven, eight and nine.

Group K

Group K

Tournament details
Host country	Iceland
City	Reykjavík
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	14–17 December
Teams	4
Tournament statistics
Games played	6
Goals scored	59 (9.83 per game)
Attendance	971 (162 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Robert Arrak (15 points)
Website	www.iihf.com

The Group K tournament was held in Reykjavík, Iceland, from 14 to 17 December 2023.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Estonia	3	3	0	0	0	36	2	+34	9	Pre-qualification Round 3
2	Iceland (H)	3	2	0	0	1	13	9	+4	6
3	South Africa	3	1	0	0	2	6	19	−13	3
4	Bulgaria	3	0	0	0	3	4	29	−25	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

All times are local (UTC±0).

14 December 2023 15:30

Bulgaria

0–21 (0–3, 0–8, 0–10)

Estonia

Laugardalur Arena, Reykjavík Attendance: 72

Game reference
	Dimitar Dimitrov Andrea Karabadjakov	Goalies	Villem-Henrik Koitmaa	Referees: Petter Bakken Stefan Pozar Linesmen: Karolis Janušauskas Marko Saković
	0–1 04:25 – Vasjonkin (Arrak, Reinsalu) 0–2 08:14 – Lovkov (Kookmaa) 0–3 Vasjonkin (Appelberg, Arrak) 0–4 24:02 – Romanov (Fedorovits, Reinsalu) 0–5 24:22 – Puzakov (Lovkov, Fursa) 0–6 25:32 – Koll (Novikov, Romanov) 0–7 27:24 – Arrak (Reinsalu, Ossipov) 0–8 28:05 – Kiik (Linde, Parras) 0–9 31:45 – Arrak (Kiik, Novikov) 0–10 34:29 – Fursa (Puzakov, Lovkov) 0–11 35:30 – Vasjonkin (Arrak, Appelberg) 0–12 41:28 – Appelberg (Arrak, Vasjonkin) 0–13 45:29 – Appelberg (Vasjonkin, Arrak) 0–14 46:46 – Fedorovits (Romanov, Koll) 0–15 48:07 – Kiik (Parras) 0–16 49:42 – Lovkov (Fursa, Puzakov) 0–17 52:25 – Vasjonkin (Arrak, Appelberg) 0–18 53:11 – Puzakov (Lovkov, Fursa) 0–19 56:51 – Fursa (Kookma, Lovkov) 0–20 57:48 – Romanov (Koll, Fedorovits) 0–21 59:23 – Kiik (Novikov, Kookmaa)
	2 min	Penalties	2 min
	15	Shots	71

14 December 2023 19:00

Iceland

9–0 (3–0, 3–0, 3–0)

South Africa

Laugardalur Arena, Reykjavík Attendance: 211

Game reference
	Johan Ragnarsson	Goalies	Alistair Bywater	Referees: Mikael Johansson Trpimir Piragić Linesmen: Knut Braten Sindri Gunnarsson
	Rúnarsson (B. Jóhannesson, Sverrisson) – 00:54 1–0 Magnusson (Leifsson) (PP) – 05:20 2–0 Arason – 15:05 3–0 Mikaelsson (Magnusson, Skúlason) – 25:13 4–0 Hafsteinsson (Blöndal) – 27:15 5–0 Jónsson (Runarsson, Hlynsson) – 39:40 6–0 B. Jóhannesson (SH) – 52:08 7–0 Hlynsson – 58:57 8–0 Hafsteinsson – 59:25 9–0
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	47	Shots	9

---

15 December 2023 15:30

Estonia

9–2 (1–1, 5–1, 3–0)

South Africa

Laugardalur Arena, Reykjavík Attendance: 35

Game reference
	Conrad Mölder	Goalies	Ryan Boyd	Referees: Peter Bakken Trpimir Piragić Linesmen: Saemundur Leifsson Marko Saković
	Appelberg (Ossipov) – 13:08 1–0 1–1 16:36 – Kluyts (Schuurman, Venter) Appelberg – 21:15 2–1 Lahesalu (Laosma, Linde) – 25:51 3–1 Koll (Laosma, Romanov) – 27:39 4–1 Vasjonkin (Arrak, Novikov) – 29:07 5–1 Arrak (Vasjonkin) – 29:23 6–1 6–2 39:53 – Giot (Carelse, Valadas) (PP) Appelberg – 48:32 7–2 Appelberg (Vasjonkin) 8–2 Fursa (Puzakov, Lovkov) – 59:05 9–2
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	76	Shots	12

15 December 2023 19:00

Iceland

4–3 (1–0, 1–2, 2–1)

Bulgaria

Laugardalur Arena, Reykjavík Attendance: 196

Game reference
	Jakob Jóhannesson	Goalies	Dimitar Dimitrov	Referees: Mikael Johansson Stefan Pozar Linesmen: Knut Braten Karolis Janušauskas
	Magnusson (Kristjansson) (PP) – 06:05 1–0 1–1 21:42 – Atanasov (K. Dikov) 1–2 28:02 – Atanasov Arnarsson (Hafsteinsson, Arason) – 39:34 2–2 2–3 47:28 – K. Dikov (Hodulov) (PP2) Blondal (Rúnarsson, Arnarsson) (EA) – 58:34 3–3 Rúnarsson (Hlysson) – 59:43 4–3
	8 min	Penalties	18 min
	68	Shots	13

---

17 December 2023 15:30

South Africa

4–1 (0–0, 1–0, 3–1)

Bulgaria

Laugardalur Arena, Reykjavík Attendance: 93

Game reference
	Ryan Boyd	Goalies	Andrea Karabadjakov	Referees: Petter Bakken Stefan Pozar Linesmen: Sindri Gunnarsson Saemundur Leifsson
	Valadas (Samaai) – 31:26 1–0 Valadas (Carelse) – 40:41 2–0 Phakathi – 47:07 3–0 Carelse (Valadas) (EN) – 56:04 4–0 4–1 59:49 – Dilkov
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	34	Shots	27

17 December 2023 19:00

Estonia

6–0 (3–0, 2–0, 1–0)

Iceland

Laugardalur Arena, Reykjavík Attendance: 364

Game reference
	Villem-Henrik Koitmaa	Goalies	Johan Ragnarsson Jakob Jóhannesson	Referees: Mikael Johansson Trpimir Piragić Linesmen: Knut Braten Karolis Janušauskas
	Arrak (Vasjonkin) – 00:51 1–0 Fedorovits (Romanov) – 02:47 2–0 Arrak (Vasjonkin, Appelberg) – 09:49 3–0 Lahesalu – 20:58 4–0 Arrak (Lahesalu, Appelberg) (PP) – 28:11 5–0 Arrak – 44:36 6–0
	14 min	Penalties	8 min
	44	Shots	25

Group L

Group L

Tournament details
Host country	Netherlands
City	Tilburg
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	15–17 December
Teams	4
Tournament statistics
Games played	6
Goals scored	74 (12.33 per game)
Attendance	2,385 (398 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Danny Stempher (13 points)
Website	Website

The Group L tournament was held in Tilburg, Netherlands, from 15 to 17 December 2023. Mexico was entered into this group but withdrew and was replaced by Georgia.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	3	3	0	0	0	24	6	+18	9	Pre-qualification Round 3
2	Netherlands (H)	3	2	0	0	1	34	7	+27	6
3	Georgia	3	1	0	0	2	13	13	0	3
4	Thailand	3	0	0	0	3	3	48	−45	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

All times are local (UTC+1).

15 December 2023 16:30

Spain

15–2 (6–0, 6–2, 3–0)

Thailand

IJssportcentrum, Tilburg Attendance: 150

Game reference
	Raul Barbo Sergi Reina	Goalies	Benjamin Kleineschay	Referees: Vytautas Lukosevicius Nikolas Neutzer Linesmen: Martin Boyadjiev Jeroen Klijberg
	Rubio (González) (PP) – 04:40 1–0 Granell (González, De Bonilla) (PP) – 09:36 2–0 Granell (Hernández) – 12:29 3–0 Capillas (Burgos, Torralba) – 16:40 4–0 Granell (Hernández) 5–0 – 17:30 6–0 Donath (Muratet) – 17:39 7–0 Muratet (García) (PP) – 22:28 8–0 Carbonell (Burgos) (PP2) – 24:30 9–0 Hernández (García) (PP) – 25:19 10–0 10–1 31:21 – Lampson (Kitayama, Isaksson) González (Carbonall, De Bonilla) (PP) – 27:17 11–1 11–2 36:47 – Lampson Carbonell (Rubio, Encinar) – 33:27 12–2 Hernández (Donath) – 46:59 13–2 Zaballa (Rubio) – 48:40 14–2 Donath (O'Hare) – 54:18 15–2
	6 min	Penalties	41 min
	41	Shots	9

15 December 2023 20:00

Netherlands

8–2 (2–1, 2–1, 4–0)

Georgia

IJssportcentrum, Tilburg Attendance: 416

Game reference
	Matijn Oosterwijk	Goalies	Mikhail Fofanov	Referees: Niki De Herdt Roman Mrkva Linesmen: Savva Azarov Carlos Trobajo
	De Hondt (Stempher) (PP) – 06:17 1–0 De Bonth (Hessels) – 12:35 2–0 2–1 13:42 – Kireev Stempher (De Hondt) – 30:11 3–1 3–2 35:31 – Dziov (Kochkin) Bison (Hofland) (SH) – 38:13 4–2 De Bonth (Hofland, Borgman) – 40:45 5–2 Muller (Verkiel) (PP) – 44:31 6–2 Van Nes (Gerretsen, De Hondt) – 50:38 7–2 Stempher (Van Nes) – 58:04 8–2
	8 min	Penalties	12 min
	50	Shots	10

---

16 December 2023 16:30

Thailand

1–23 (1–6, 0–7, 0–10)

Netherlands

IJssportcentrum, Tilburg Attendance: 565

Game reference
	Benjamin Kleineschay Pattarapol Ungkulpattanasuk	Goalies	Matijn Oosterwijk	Referees: Niki De Herdt Nikolas Neutzer Linesmen: Savva Azarov Martin Boyadjiev
	0–1 03:23 – Verkiel (Stempher, De Hondt) 0–2 04:40 – De Bonth (Stempher, Hofland) 0–3 12:06 – De Hondt (Stempher) Thanakroekkiat (Forstner, Kindborn) (PP) – 13:11 1–3 1–4 15:14 – Van Nes (De Hondt, Stempher) 1–5 15:23 – Bison (Timmer, Oosterveld) (SH) 1–6 17:01 – Hofland (De Bonth) 1–7 20:57 – Stempher (De Hondt) (SH) 1–8 27:04 – Bison (Verkiel) (PP) 1–9 27:41 – Nordemann (Doop, Huisman) 1–10 28:25 – Timmer (Verkiel, Bison) (PP) 1–11 32:21 – De Bonth (Stempher, Hofland) 1–12 33:30 – Van Elten (Huisman) 1–13 34:55 – Borgman (Van Nes, Stempher) 1–14 40:51 – Verkiel 1–15 43:16 – Huisman (De Ruiter, Van Elten) 1–16 45:56 – Timmer (Nordemann, Bison) 1–17 48:17 – Stempher (Van Nes, Gerretsen) 1–18 48:59 – Huisman (Van Gorp, Hofland) 1–19 52:48 – Nordemann 1–20 53:31 – De Hondt (Stempher, Van Gorp) (PP) 1–21 53:43 – De Bonth (Hofland, Borgman) 1–22 58:07 – De Ruiter (Doop, Gerretsen) 1–23 58:16 – Timmer
	10 min	Penalties	4 min
	7	Shots	76

16 December 2023 20:00

Spain

5–1 (1–0, 3–1, 1–0)

Georgia

IJssportcentrum, Tilburg Attendance: 222

Game reference
	Raul Barbo	Goalies	Ivan Starostin	Referees: Vytautas Lukosevicius Roman Mrkva Linesmen: Jeroen Klijberg Bram Zwarthoed
	Torralba (De Bonilla, O'Hare) – 16:02 1–0 O'Hare (Burgos, Baldris) (PP) – 24:31 2–0 Baldris (Burgos, O'Hare) (PP) – 29:22 3–0 3–1 31:20 – Kozyulin (Dziov, Obolgogiani) (PP) González (Carbonell) – 36:00 4–1 Donath (Zaballa) (SH) – 53:18 5–1
	14 min	Penalties	12 min
	34	Shots	8

---

17 December 2023 16:30

Netherlands

3–4 (1–0, 2–3, 0–1)

Spain

IJssportcentrum, Tilburg Attendance: 857

Game reference
	Cedrick Andree	Goalies	Raul Barbo	Referees: Roman Mrkva Nikolas Neutzer Linesmen: Martin Boyadjiev Jeroen Klijberg
	Stempher (Borgman, Van Nes (PP) – 19:03 1–0 1–1 21:23 – González (García) 1–2 29:23 – Burgos (O'Hare) (PP) 1–3 32:09 – Donath Van Nes (De Ruiter, Van Gorp) – 35:02 2–3 Huisman (Borgman, Van Gorp) – 36:53 3–3 3–4 47:39 – Baldris (Burgos, O'Hare) (PP)
	6 min	Penalties	12 min
	30	Shots	21

17 December 2023 20:00

Georgia

10–0 (3–0, 4–0, 3–0)

Thailand

IJssportcentrum, Tilburg Attendance: 175

Game reference
	Ivan Starostin Mikhail Fofanov	Goalies	Benjamin Kleineschay	Referees: Niki De Herdt Vytautas Lukosevicius Linesmen: Carlos Trobajo Bram Zwarthoed
	Kurbatov (Vasilchenko) – 08:07 1–0 Dziov (Romanov, Marov) – 10:18 2–0 Romanov (Kochkin, Bukiya) (PP) – 19:05 3–0 Romanov (Ermoshenko, Dziov) – 21:42 4–0 Dziov (Bukiya) – 26:28 5–0 Obolgogiani (Bukiya, Kurbatov) – 29:46 6–0 Kochkin (Dziov) – 34:20 7–0 Kurbatov (Kochkin, Romanov) (PP) – 53:25 8–0 Kharizov (Vasilchenko, Kurbatov) – 53:57 9–0 Bukiya – 59:53 10–0
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	36	Shots	15

Group M

Group M

Tournament details
Host country	Serbia
City	Belgrade
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	14–17 December
Teams	4
Tournament statistics
Games played	6
Goals scored	34 (5.67 per game)
Attendance	1,335 (223 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Jan Smolec (6 points)
Website	Website

The Group M tournament was held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 14 to 17 December 2023.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Serbia (H)	3	3	0	0	0	15	0	+15	9	Pre-qualification Round 3
2	Croatia	3	2	0	0	1	12	7	+5	6
3	Chinese Taipei	3	1	0	0	2	4	13	−9	3
4	Turkey	3	0	0	0	3	3	14	−11	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

All times are local (UTC+1).

14 December 2023 15:30

Croatia

6–1 (0–0, 3–0, 3–1)

Chinese Taipei

Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade Attendance: 17

Game reference
	Ivan Ružić	Goalies	Hsiao Pu-yu	Referees: Michal Klejna Paweł Kosidło Linesmen: Aleksandar Đokić Oli Gunnarsson
	Vedlin (Smolec) (PP) – 25:50 1–0 Idžan (Smolec, Fičur) (PP) – 32:26 2–0 Bebek (Puzić, Čanić) – 39:01 3–0 Vedlin (Fičur) – 56:01 4–0 Mirić (Fičur, Cavlović) – 56:32 5–0 Dobrić (Smolec) – 57:04 6–0 6–1 58:38 – Yang (Lin H., Lin Y.c.)
	10 min	Penalties	12 min
	62	Shots	12

14 December 2023 19:00

Serbia

5–0 (1–0, 1–0, 3–0)

Turkey

Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade Attendance: 367

Game reference
	Arsenije Ranković	Goalies	Tolga Bozacı	Referees: Daniel Rencz Joe Sewell Linesmen: Christoph Barnthaler Lodewijk Beelen
	M. Mladenović (Racić, Gvozdenović) – 08:28 1–0 Racić (Anić, Dragović) – 33:47 2–0 Vučurević (Podunavac) – 50:38 3–0 Podunavac (Subotić) – 52:56 4–0 Podunavac (Novaković, Mitrović) – 57:21 5–0
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	39	Shots	17

---

15 December 2023 15:30

Croatia

6–2 (0–1, 3–1, 3–0)

Turkey

Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade Attendance: 14

Game reference
	Vito Nikolić	Goalies	Tolga Bozacı	Referees: Paweł Kosidło Daniel Rencz Linesmen: Christoph Barnthaler David Perduv
	0–1 19:01 – Bakal (Bingöl, Savaş) (PP) 0–2 25:33 – Meydanci (Solak) Vedlin (Puzić) (SH) – 27:22 1–2 Smolec (Novotny) (SH) – 28:15 2–2 Smolec (Idžan) – 38:33 3–2 Puzić (Čanić, Dobrić) – 44:45 4–2 Idžan (Čanić, Smolec) (PP2) – 52:10 5–2 Dimitrijević (Fičur) – 57:51 6–2
	33 min	Penalties	10 min
	28	Shots	12

15 December 2023 19:00

Chinese Taipei

0–6 (0–3, 0–1, 0–2)

Serbia

Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade Attendance: 428

Game reference
	Li Yi-cheng	Goalies	Arsenije Ranković Lazar Ilić	Referees: Michal Klejna Joe Sewell Linesmen: Lodewijk Beelen Oli Gunnarsson
	0–1 10:28 – Racić (Subotić) 0–2 14:13 – Dinić (Podunavac, Dragović) 0–3 19:47 – M. Mladenović (Zwick) 0–4 34:54 – Vučurević (K. Mladenović, Zwick) 0–5 47:36 – M. Mladenović (Kravljanac, Španjević) 0–6 56:30 – Zwick (PS,SH)
	6 min	Penalties	11 min
	22	Shots	42

---

17 December 2023 15:30

Turkey

1–3 (0–1, 1–2, 0–0)

Chinese Taipei

Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade Attendance: 21

Game reference
	Oğulcan Kızılkaya	Goalies	Hsiao Po-yu	Referees: Paweł Kosidło Joe Sewell Linesmen: Aleksandar Đokić David Perduv
	0–1 04:50 – Lin J. (Lin Y.k., Shen) Meydancı (Solak) – 21:19 1–1 1–2 26:06 – Lin Y.c. (Lin H., Sang) (PP) 1–3 31:58 – Lin H. (SH)
	10 min	Penalties	4 min
	31	Shots	28

17 December 2023 19:00

Serbia

4–0 (1–0, 0–0, 3–0)

Croatia

Pionir Ice Hall, Belgrade Attendance: 488

Game reference
	Arsenije Ranković	Goalies	Vito Nikolić	Referees: Michal Klejna Daniel Rencz Linesmen: Christoph Barnthaler Lodewijk Beelen
	Novaković (Dragović) (PP2) – 15:44 1–0 Racić (M. Mladenović) – 41:16 2–0 Španjević (Vučurević) (PP) – 55:47 3–0 Dinić (Podunavac, Dragović) – 57:15 4–0
	8 min	Penalties	12 min
	26	Shots	24

Pre-qualification Round 3

Twelve countries will play in three tournaments to determine qualifiers for the next round. Each tournament winner will be ranked by their qualification seeding and enter the next round as qualifier four, five, or six. The tournaments will be played between 8 and 11 February 2024.

Group G

Group M

Tournament details
Host country	Hungary
City	Budapest
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	8–10 February
Teams	4
Website	Website

The tournament will be held in Budapest, Hungary.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan	1	1	0	0	0	6	4	+2	3	Final qualification
2	Hungary (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Lithuania	1	0	0	0	1	4	6	−2	0

First match(es) will be played: 8 February 2024. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

8 February 2024 15:00

Lithuania

4–6

Japan

Tüskecsarnok, Budapest

8 February 2024 18:00

Hungary

v

Spain

Tüskecsarnok, Budapest

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9 February 2024 16:30

Spain

v

Japan

Tüskecsarnok, Budapest

9 February 2024 20:00

Hungary

v

Lithuania

Tüskecsarnok, Budapest

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10 February 2024 16:30

Lithuania

v

Spain

Tüskecsarnok, Budapest

10 February 2024 20:00

Japan

v

Hungary

Tüskecsarnok, Budapest

Group H

Group H

Tournament details
Host country	Great Britain
City	Cardiff
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	8–11 February
Teams	4
Website	Website

The tournament will be held in Cardiff, Great Britain.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Great Britain (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final qualification
2	Romania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	China	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Serbia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 8 February 2024. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

8 February 2024 16:00

Romania

v

Serbia

Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff

8 February 2024 20:00

Great Britain

v

China

Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff

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10 February 2024 15:00

Romania

v

China

Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff

10 February 2024 19:00

Serbia

v

Great Britain

Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff

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11 February 2024 19:00

China

v

Serbia

Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff

11 February 2024 19:00

Great Britain

v

Romania

Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff

Group J

Group J

Tournament details
Host country	Poland
City	Sosnowiec
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	8–11 February
Teams	4
Website	Website

The tournament will be held in Sosnowiec, Poland.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Final qualification
2	Poland (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Ukraine	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Estonia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 8 February 2024. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

8 February 2024 16:30

Poland

v

Estonia

Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy, Sosnowiec

8 February 2024 20:00

South Korea

v

Ukraine

Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy, Sosnowiec

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9 February 2024 16:30

Estonia

v

South Korea

Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy, Sosnowiec

9 February 2024 20:15

Poland

v

Ukraine

Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy, Sosnowiec

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11 February 2024 16:30

Ukraine

v

Estonia

Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy, Sosnowiec

11 February 2024 20:15

South Korea

v

Poland

Zagłębiowski Park Sportowy, Sosnowiec

Final Olympic qualification

Twelve countries will play in three tournaments to determine the qualifying teams for the Olympic tournament. The tournaments will be played between 29 August and 1 September 2024.

Group D

The tournament will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia. The participation of Belarus is not yet confirmed and depends on if the team is allowed to return to the IIHF Championship program.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Slovakia (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2026 Winter Olympics
2	Belarus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Kazakhstan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Qualifier 6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 29 August 2024. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Group E

The tournament will be held in Riga, Latvia.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Latvia (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2026 Winter Olympics
2	France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Austria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Qualifier 5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 29 August 2024. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Group F

The tournament will be held in Aalborg, Denmark.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Denmark (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2026 Winter Olympics
2	Norway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Slovenia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Qualifier 4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played: 29 August 2024. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host