France
2022 Olympic finish
N/A - 2026 is France's first appearance in women's hockey
2025 IIHF Women's World Championship finish
4th in Division IA
IIHF World Ranking
14th overall
The IIHF uses results from four years (2022-2025) to determine these rankings. New rankings will be released after the Olympics.
Forwards
Chloé Aurard-Bushee, Jade Barbirat, Lore Baudrit, Clemence Boudin, Estelle Duvin, Sehana Galbrun, Margot Huot-Marchand, Manon Le Scodan, Julia Mesplède, Emma Nonnenmacher, Anaïs Peyne-Dingival, Clara Rozier, Anaé Simon
Defense
Léa Berger, Gabrielle De Serres, Sophie Leclerc, Marie-Pierre Pélissou, Lucie Quarto, Léa Villot, Elina Zilliox
Goaltenders
Margaux Mameri, Alice Philbert, Violette Pianel-Couriaut
Head coach
Grégory Tarlé
He's been leading the team since 2013
Recent results against Olympic opponents (last two seasons):
v. Japan: L 3-2 (OT) (13 December 2025), L 5-2 (29 August 2025), L 7-1 (6 February 2025)
v. Germany: L 3-2 (SO) (5 November 2025), L 6-3 (30 August 2025)
(results in italics are from official IIHF tournaments)
Background & Analysis
France is making its Olympic women's hockey debut, and was the last team to secure qualification for these Games. The French didn't win their qualification tournament, which typically would've left them on the outside looking in. Ultimately, their record as the best second-place finisher from among the three qualification tournaments set them up to make the cut once the IOC confirmed that the suspension of Russia and Belarus due to the annexation of Ukraine meant athletes from those countries cannot compete in team events (unlike in 2022, under the terms of the anti-doping ban). The French team's goal is to make the quarterfinal, which will require a top-3 finish within Group B.
Six ranking spots separate France from Germany, meaning that the French (along with the host Italians, ranked 17) are clear underdogs on paper. However, perennial top division teams like Germany and Japan do benefit from an advantage in ranking points, and the biggest thing separating a team like France from its Group B opponents is consistency.
Case in point: after a strong showing in its Olympic Qualifying Tournament last year, France went on to a middling performance at D1A Worlds two months later. The French have played two exhibitions against each of Germany and Japan this season, losing all four matches but trending positively, having taken the later two meetings to overtime (Japan, 3-2) and a shootout (Germany, 3-2). Their goal is ambitious but achievable: to reach it, they'll need to perform to their potential every single game.
A secondary objective for France will be to soak it all in – not just because this is the team's first Olympics, but in anticipation of its next. With the 2030 Games set to be hosted in the French Alps, France is guaranteed a place at the Olympic tournament in Nice, and will surely count on experience gained in Milan as it aims to punch above its weight on home ice.
Italy
2022 Olympic finish
N/A - Only prior Olympic appearance was in 2006, the last time Italy hosted
2025 IIHF Women's World Championship finish
Won Division I-B in Dumfries, Great Britain in 2025. They won all five of their games to be promoted to Division I-A and led the tournament with a +31 goal differential.
IIHF World Ranking
17th overall
The IIHF uses results from four years (2022-2025) to determine these rankings. New rankings will be released after the Olympics.
Forwards
Aurora Enrica Abatangelo, Eleonora Bonafini, Anna Caumo, Kristin Della Rovere, Matilde Fantin, Manuela Heidenberger, Sara Kaneppele, Marta Mazzocchi, Greta Niccolai, Justine Reyes, Rebecca Roccella, Carola Saletta, Kayla Tutino
Defense
Laura Fortino, Kristen Guerriero, Laura Lobis, Nadia Mattivi, Jacqueline Pierri, Franziska Stocker, Amie Fielding Varano
Goaltenders
Gabriella Francesca Durante, Martina Fedel, Margherita Ostoni
Head coach
Éric Bouchard
The 33-year-old Montreal native was named head coach of this team just three months ago. He currently works with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataracts, but was an assistant coach with Les Canadiennes de Montréal of the defunct CWHL in 2014-15 and 2017-18 and regularly coaches women's hockey camps at Centre 21.02, the high-performance hockey centre founded by Danièle Sauvageau, GM of both the PWHL's Montreal Victoire and the Italian women's hockey team.
Recent results against Olympic opponents (last two seasons):
v. Japan: L 4-3 (25 August 2025), L 3-2 (23 August 2025)
(results in italics are from official IIHF tournaments)
Background & Analysis
Italy's goal for the tournament is simple: shock the world.
In the country's only previous Olympic showing, Italy finished last and were outscored by a cumulative margin of 48-3. This time, they're bringing a mix of homegrown talent and experienced North American players with Italian ancestry, and have devoted the season entirely to preparing for these Games. They're the lowest-ranked team on paper, but the past four years are hardly indicative of what the current roster is capable of, and they aim to prove that by earning a place in the quarterfinals.
For approximately two months between November and January (with a holiday break in between), the players contending for a place on Team Italy were centralized at Centre 21.02 in Montreal, using the same training facilities as the PWHL's Montreal Victoire. Coach Éric Bouchard has emphasized defence as the top priority and implemented a structured style for the group. While in Montreal, Italy played several exhibitions against top Quebec university teams, winning all of them by wide margins, and came back from a 2-0 deficit to tie a match-up against an ad hoc team that included active NCAA players and PWHL reserves.
The most recognizable name on the team is Olympic and World Champion Laura Fortino, who was a fixture of Canada's blue line for the better part of a decade and has been to two Olympics. North American fans will recognize a number of familiar faces, but some of Italy's top stars are local talent. Nadia Mattivi was the top scoring defender in the SDHL last year, and has posted more than a point per game this season. Forward Matilde Fantin just turned 19 years old, but she led the team in scoring at last year's D1B Worlds before joining Penn State in the autumn, where she's been among the NCAA's top performing freshmen. Goalie Martina Fedel, whose father's work took the family to Sweden when she was a teenager, has been a solid backstop for several years.
Italy's success will depend on their ability to maintain their structure under pressure and play a strong defensive game. If they can do that and manage to capitalize on scoring opportunities when they arise, they may well end up in quarterfinals.
(Team France Photo (L): Equipe de France de Hockey sur Glace/FB)
Team Italy Photo (R): The Concordian/Aidan Raynor)
