Denmark, Slovakia and Latvia are the last teams to qualify for the 2026 Olympic ice hockey tournament in Milan.
01.09.2024, 20:22
01.09.2024, 20:27
SDA
This means that the three tournament hosts prevailed in the final phase of qualifying. The Slovaks defeated Kazakhstan 3:1 in the decisive final group game, Latvia beat France 5:2 in the "final" and Denmark secured their Olympic ticket with a 4:1 win against Norway. For the Danes, Nicklas Jensen of the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers shone as a passer and two-goal scorer.
As number 7 in the decisive 2023 IIHF ranking, Switzerland qualified directly. National coach Patrick Fischer's team is expected to face record Olympic champions Canada, Sweden and hosts Italy in Milan.
The grouping for the preliminary round is based on the assumption that Russia will be admitted to the Winter Games. If the Russians are also excluded from the Olympic tournament after the 2022, 2023 and 2024 World Cups due to the war of aggression against Ukraine, a new grouping will have to be made. A twelfth team would also move up.
