The IIHF Women's World Championship top division tournament begins Friday in Herning and Esbjerg, Denmark. For the first time in 15 years, the IIHF has moved away from weighted groups. The teams have been allocated to groups A and B in a serpentine system, with teams ranked 1, 4, 5, 8 and 9 in Group A and teams ranked 2, 3, 6, 7 and 10 in Group B.
So for the 2026 tournament, Group A is United States (1), Czechia (4), Switzerland (5), Germany (8) and Austria (9). Group B is Canada (2), Finland (3), Sweden (6), Japan (7) and Denmark (10).
Austria and Denmark were promoted as the top two teams in Group 1A in 2025 while Hungary and Norway were relegated.
The top four teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals and the bottom team in each group will play off in a relegation game. The Quarterfinals will be paired based on team's standings in their group after round robin. The pairings are A1-B4, A2-B3, A3-B2, A4-B1. Teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals to determine semifinal matchups.
As there are two host arenas, the schedule has games happening simultaneously in each city. All games of the tournament will be broadcast on TSN in Canada. It appears NHL Network in the US will show all US and Canada games and currently is scheduled to show two quarterfinals games.
The tournament kicks off Friday at 9:00 AM Eastern with Group A play between Austria and Czechia and Group B play between Canada and Sweden. The second set of games are at 1 PM Eastern, with Group A's USA playing Switzerland and Group B's Denmark playing Finland.
The gold medal game is schedule for Monday, November 16 at 1 PM Eastern.
Team USA
2025 finish: Gold; defeated Canada 4-3 in overtime on a Tessa Janecke goal
Forwards: Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter, Jesse Compher, Joy Dunne, Lacey Eden, Taylor Fox, Tessa Janecke, Hilary Knight, Abbey Murphy, Casey O'Brien, Kelly Pannek, Hayley Scamurra, Kirsten Simms, Grace Zumwinkle
Defense: Cayla Barnes, Laila Edwards, Rory Guilday, KK Harvey, Megan Keller, Emma Peschel, Lee Stecklein, Haley Winn
Goaltenders: Aerin Frankel, Gwyneth Philips, Callie Shanahan
Head coach: John Wroblewski; this is his fifth World Championship as Team USA head coach
Keep an eye on: the details. With a fairly unchanged roster, there are a lot of expectations and a lot of attention on this team. When I spoke with coach John Wroblewski last week, he spoke a lot about fine tuning and the challenge of continuing to get better when you're already one top. One thing he mentioned was working with a third power play unit during camp. It remains to be seen if that will be deployed during the World Championship, but I got the impression the idea was both to give a lot of different players experience and to foster some competition so no one gets too complacent in their role. He didn't say it outright, but it seemed like the idea is that anyone can play in a bunch of different roles at any given time. It makes them less prone to a dropoff if someone is out injured and adds to their already impressive depth.
I've gotten the impression in the past that USAH views Casey O'Brien as too similar to Kendall Coyne-Schofield to need to have both on the roster. Obviously it's not that simple, starting with O'Brien being a center. But I don't think it's totally wrong, either. Either way, O'Brien is getting a shot and in the pre-tournament games was centering former Wisconsin teammates Kirsten Simms and Lacey Eden. I love that ready-made comfort and chemistry. Both O'Brien and Eden are looking to earn more permanent spots in the senior national team rotation. They were fourth on the line sheet in the pre-tournament games but could really use their experience to make the most of limited ice time.
How are they going to do?: I don't think it's unfair to say that anything less than gold would be a disappointment. The Americans have been pretty firmly on top over the past two years or so. There are some roster changes with players out on maternity leave, but most of the new players they brought in still have experience at Rivalry Series or in senior camps. This is functionally the same team that bulldozed through the Olympics.
I don't think the path to gold is going to be easy for any team, but it sure seems like USA fans should be able to just relax and watch some very good hockey without stressing too much. Ostensibly this should be a comfortable group with chemistry and confidence and dare I say even a little bit of swagger. They're very good and they should know it. That should lead to some dominant games, particularly with the no-longer-weighted group.
Team Czechia
2025 finish: Fourth; lost the bronze medal game to Finland 4-3 in overtime
Forwards: Anežka Čabelová, Tereza Gildainová, Klára Hymlárová, Barbora Juříčková, Kristýna Kaltounková, Natálie Mlýnková, Kateřina Mrázová, Michaela Pejzlová, Tereza Pištěková, Tereza Plosová, Vendula Přibylová, Adéla Šapovalivová, Linda Vocetková, Barbora Bartáková
Defense: Sára Čajanová, Ellen Jarabková, Noemi Neubauerová, Aneta Tejralová , Aneta Paroubková, Daniela Pejšová, Tereza Radová, Klára Seroiszková
Goaltenders: Daniela Nováková, Klára Peslarová, Aneta Šenková
Head coach: Brian Idalski; this is his first tournament as head coach
Keep an eye on: the youth movement, chemistry and style of play. Several longtime stalwarts of this program are not on this roster, including Tereza Vanišová, Denisa Křížová, and Dominika Lásková. I don't think it's unrelated that the only one of those players that tallied a point in Milan is Vanišová, who had a single assist. New coach Brian Idalski has gone quite young with this roster, but I'm not sure how much there is to read into that. It's the first year of the Olympic quad and his first major tournament as coach. If there is a time to figure out what he has in his player pool and if they can handle this level of competition, this is it.
I'll be watching to see how the team's style changes under Idalski. Physicality and speed have always been part of their MO in recent years and I don't expect that to change, but I imagine there will be other tweaks. He's a coach that does a great job of getting player buy in. In the past he's been very skilled at finding new solutions to old problems and raising the level of play. I'm interested how that tendency combines with a Czechia program that pushed themselves to their first ever medals and first Olympic appearance, but hasn't been able to hold that third place spot.
I'm expecting a big tournament from Tereza Plosová, Adéla Šapovalivová and Linda Vocetková. Czechia needs their up-and-coming stars to play smart hockey, stay out of the box and score goals.
How are they going to do?: Honestly, they could finish anywhere from second to sixth, in my opinion. I do mostly believe that it'll be another US/Canada final, but I also think the opportunity for another team to make the final is bigger than it's been in awhile. Czechia is the team that took down Canada at the 2024 U18 World Championships and several of those players are now on this roster. I never underestimate the importance of belief. And these players know they can beat Canada.
But even if we go back to assuming a US/Canada final, Sweden, Finland, Czechia and Switzerland are probably all in the conversation to make the bronze medal game. Something about the Olympics tends to pull it out of Switzerland in a way the World Championships never do so they're the least likely contender. But Finland edged out Czcehia for the bronze in 2025. I think the new groups are most likely to negatively effect Switzerland and Finland in terms of them not getting automatic passes into the quarterfinals. The team that most benefits from the change are Sweden, who were often in Group B and faced little competition in prelims and found themselves unprepared for a huge jump in skill during the quarterfinals.
That's a lot of talk about other teams to explain why I think it's not very clear where Czechia will finish, but long story short, there's a lot of competition. I think the mostly likely situation is they play in the bronze medal game and I refuse to predict any further than that.
Team Switzerland
2025 finish: Fifth; defeated Sweden 3-2 in the fifth place game
Forwards: Leoni Balzer, Elisa Dalessi , Rahel Enzler, Nora Harju, Naemi Herzig, Sinja Leemann, Ilana Leibundgut, Jael Manetsch, Alina Marti, Alina Müller, Norina Müller, Luisa Waser, Ivana Wey, Laura Zimmermann
Defense: Alessia Baechler, Mara Frey, Nina Harju, Laure Mériguet, Alena Lynn Rossel, Lucie Tenenbaum, Nicole Vallario, Stefanie Wetli
Goaltenders: Andrea Brändli, Saskia Maurer, Chiara Pfosi
Head coach: Shannon Miller; this is her first major tournament as head coach. She previously coach Canada at the 1997 World Championship and 1998 Olympics.
Keep an eye on: defense and goaltending.
There is simply no denying that the goaltending of Andrea Brändli and Saskia Maurer was absolutely pivotal to Switzerland's success at the Olympics. That part is not new or news. Swiss goaltending has long been game-changing and something special. They're going to be the brightest spot.
However, their work is going to be even more difficult in Denmark. I wrote about the difficulties Switzerland perpetually deal with back at the 2024 Women's World Championships. It was for subscribers only back then, but I have unlocked it now.
Pay particular note to Alina Müller talking about players retiring young. Because here we are two years later and six players under the age of 30 announced their retirement from the national team following the Olympics - Lara Christen (24), Shannon Sigrist (27), Emma Ingold (23), Lena-Marie Lutz (25), Kaleigh Quennec (28) and Lisa Ruedi (25) are all gone from the bronze-medal squad.
Defense has been a struggle in the Women's Euro Hockey Tour so far for Switzerland and players like Lara Christen have been deeply missed. She was the soul of their defense in Milan. The defenders are young and not very inexperienced. The player who has been asked to step up most so far is Alena Lynn Rossel, who was not on the Olympic roster.
How are they going to do?: I think it's going to be a rough go of it and folks that only pay attention once in awhile are going to be shocked that Switzerland went from an Olympic bronze to sixth or worse at Worlds.
I focused on defense above, but the biggest missing piece for Switzerland is Lara Stalder. The four-time Olympian is the heart and soul of this team as well as being her country's all-time highest scorer. Müller will be expected to do even more without someone that can match her skill or IQ and who would pull defensive attention. I think Alina Müller is one of the best players in the world, but even she can't single-handedly carry a team through the world's best international defensive pairings.
Beyond scoring, what Stalder and Müller have long done is hold possession and give the defense a rest. I'm not sure how much that will happen this tournament.
Team Germany
2025 finish: Eighth; lost their quarterfinal match to USA 3-0
Forwards: Alexandra Boico, Nina Christof, Aileena Dopheide, Franziska Feldmeier, Nicola Hadraschek-Eisenschmid, Celina Hader, Mathilda Heine, Laura Kluge, Emily Nix, Jule Schiefer, Marie-Kristin Schmid, Lilli Welcke, Luisa Welcke
Defense: Tabea Botthof, Daria Gleissner, Ronja Hark, Hanna Hoppe, Katarina Jobst-Smith, Tara Schmitz, Carina Stroebel, Hanna Weichenain
Goaltenders: Sandra Arbstreiter, Lisa Hemmerle, Chaira Schultes
Head coach: Jeff MacLeod; this is his third World Championships as head coach
Keep an eye on: sustained offensive possession. Germany tends to live up to their country's reputation by keeping their head down and working hard. There aren't really offensive superstars (though Alex Boico might be primed to breakout) and what serves them through these tournaments is that there isn't a drop in talent from the first to third line. They've gotten more players prepping in North America, developing in the NCAA and playing in the PWHL than ever before and they'll be looking to those players to provide consistent play. Too often they haven't had the level necessary to work a breakout or do much more than head out of the zone only to come right back to play defense. Sandra Arbstreiter can be a brick wall for them and really give them a chance to keep games close, but they have to find more scoring. Often they aren't really able to effectively break out or even get settled in the offensive zone. Germany doesn't often get to play their game - they spend the whole time responding to what their opponent is doing. But if they can draw from their depth and impose their will a bit, I think they have a chance to push much higher in the final standings.
Of course, if they can't find a way to more reliably hold on to the puck, it's going to be a very different story.
How are they going to do?: I don't expect them to be in danger of relegation, but the likelihood is they end up right where they were last year, in eighth. However, maybe I'm being too optimistic, but with all the uncertainty on other teams, this group is mostly the one that just played in the Olympics. They bring a chemistry and familiarity with each other a lot of other teams don't have. I'm going to be optimistic and say they could play end up in the fifth place game.
Team Austria
2025 finish: First in the Division I A tournament and was promoted
Forwards: Eva Beiter, Lena Dauböck, Tamara Grascher, Emma Hofbauer, Leonie Kutzer, Emma Lintner, Marja Linzbichler, Anna Meixner, Hanna Obermayr, Emma Pfeffer, Vanessa Picka, Theresa Schafzahl, Amalie Suppan, Anja Trummer
Defense: Anna Billa, Annika Fazokas, Antonia Matzka, Emma Mörtl, Laura Nagy, Lisa Schröfl, Artemis Tekin, Charlotte Wittich
Goaltenders: Anja Adamitsch, Magdalena Luggin, Selma Luggin
Head coach: Alexander Bröms
Keep an eye on: Tensions. The Austrian team played in the Women's European Cup of Nations in Slovakia in August without 11 of their top players. The players threatened to boycot this World Championships - the country's first in the top division - due to ongoing disputes over shortcomings and demands the players outlined for the federation last March. Players spoke of sleeping in bunk beds, not receiving a per diem, getting hand-me-down clothes and equipment from the men's team, unheated changing rooms and other items. Players said the trust between the players and the management is gone. The three longest tenured women's team staff members - who had the best reltaionship with the players -were removed. The federation put out a press release in early September saying the two sides had come to an agreement, but it's not difficult to imagine that there are probably still ill feelings. Of course, when Team USA did something similar in 2017, the togetherness the team forged in the fight absolutely carried them through to gold. But it does not appear that all the players were necessarily on the same page here. It's difficult to tell when reading translated news coverage, but I'll be watching to see if this fight brought the players closer together or put wedges in the team chemistry.
I'll also be watching to see what impacts, if any, are visible from the federation's hiring of Gina Kingsbury as general manager. The Toronto Sceptres GM was Team Canada's GM until they replaced all the women's team staff after the Olympics. Kingsbury has a ton of experience and knowledge, but it's obviously not a full-time role, she's new in it and there's only so much that can be done within a federation's framework. She's good, but not a miracle worker.
There's just so clearly so much that needs to be done foundationally here. But they do have Seattle Torrent forward Teresa Schafzahl and former PWHL-er Anna Meixner. Several of the players are currently playing in the NCAA and two are committed to head their next season.
How are they going to do?: It's their first time in the top division and history says they're headed right back to relegation. But we play the games for a reason and there are plenty of positives here that could come together to carry Austria through. That being said, the fight with the federation proves how behind Austria is in the progression of the sport and development. It's hard to compete with teams that are getting institutional support. It sure seems like they'll be fighting not to finish at the bottom of the standings, but there are so many unknowns that I find it hard to write them off completely.
