2026 Men's World Floorball Championships
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Finland |
| Venues | 3 (in 1 host city) |
| Dates | 4 December – 13 December |
| Teams | 16 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 48 |
The 2026 Men's World Floorball Championships will be the 16th edition of this competition. It will held from 4 to 13 December 2026 in Tampere, Finland. It will be the fourth time that Finland hosts the men's championship, most recently in 2020.[1]
Host nation Finland will defend the championship title won at the 2024 tournament.
Host selection
Finland and Czech Republic both had expressed an interest in this event.[2] In 1 December 2022, the Finnish Floorball Federation announced a bid for 2026. The bid had support from the Finnish government and the federation had already sent preliminary letters to Denmark and Latvia about a possible co-host.[3] On 24 March 2023, Finland officially sent an application for the tournament. [4] During January and February, the Finnish Floorball Federation stated that they had a lot of interest from multiple cities, but chose Tampere due to their arenas and fans. The negotiations with Denmark and Latvia for a potential joint bid never materialized to an official bid as Finland submitted a solo bid.[5][4] Finland was given the hosting rights on 24 May 2023 at a meeting in Malmö.[1][6][7][8][9][10]
Preparation
After a bid for the 2026 men's and 2027 women's was announced, the Finnish Floorball Federation announced they wanted to do a two-year project, with sponsors and organisation in mind.[3]
Qualification
A total of 16 national teams will participate in the final tournament. Finland qualified automatically as the host nation. The remaining 34 registered national teams compete for qualification through regional qualifiers.[11]
Two European qualification divisions were held in Liepāja, Latvia, from 3 to 7 February 2026. The third European division took place in Trenčín, Slovakia, from 5 to 8 February. In the first and third divisions, eight teams competed, divided into two groups. The group winners, the winners of the matches between the second-placed teams, and the best losing second-placed team qualified. The second division consisted of six teams, of which the top three teams qualified.[12]
The Asia–Oceania qualification was held from 13 to 19 January in Wellington, New Zealand. Ten teams in two groups competed for four qualification spots. Solomon Islands and Hong Kong participated for the first time.[13] In the Americas qualification, the national teams of the United States and Canada will face each other in Austin, Texas, from 20 to 22 March 2026.[14]
Qualified teams
| Slots | Qualified | WR | 2024 | Appearance(s) | Previous best performance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Streak | Last | ||||||
| Host nation | 1 | Finland | 2nd | 1st | 16 | 16 | 2024 | Champions (2008, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2024) |
| European Qualification 1 | 3+1 | Latvia | 4th | 4th | 15 | 14 | 2024 | 4th place (2024) |
| Switzerland | 5th | 5th | 16 | 16 | 2024 | 2nd place (1998) | ||
| Slovenia | 16th | 13th | 2 | 2 | 2024 | 13th place (2024) | ||
| Norway | 8th | 7th | 16 | 16 | 2024 | 3rd place (1996) | ||
| European Qualification 2 | 3 | Czech Republic | 3rd | 3rd | 16 | 16 | 2024 | 2nd place (2004, 2022) |
| Germany | 7th | 8th | 14 | 9 | 2024 | 4th place (2012) | ||
| Estonia | 9th | 9th | 11 | 10 | 2024 | 7th place (2010) | ||
| European Qualification 3 | 3 | Sweden | 1st | 2nd | 16 | 16 | 2024 | Champions (ten times, last in 2022)[a] |
| Slovakia | 6th | 6th | 8 | 8 | 2024 | 6th place (2024) | ||
| Denmark | 10th | 10th | 15 | 7 | 2024 | 4th place (1998, 2000) | ||
| Asia-Oceania Qualification | 4 | Thailand | 13th | 14th | 6 | 6 | 2024 | 13th place (2020) |
| Singapore | 17th | – | 8 | 1 | 2022 | 12th place (1996) | ||
| Japan | 23rd | – | 5 | 1 | 2018 | 13th place (1998 – Division B) | ||
| Philippines | 12th | 11th | 4 | 4 | 2024 | 11th place (2024) | ||
| Americas Qualification | 1 | — | ||||||
Venues
The three arenas are situated in Tampere. The quarterfinals onwards will be in the Nokia Arena.[1][15]
| Tampere | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nokia Arena Capacity: 13,000 |
Hakametsä Ice Hall Capacity: 7,000 |
Kauppi Sports hall Capacity: 1,300 | |
Tournament format
In the group stage each team plays each other once, while the second stage of the event includes play-offs and placement matches.
The two best teams of group A and B go directly to the quarter-finals. Teams placed third and fourth in group A and B and the teams placed first and second in group C and D go into the first play-off round (played before the quarter-finals).
Draw
The draw was held on 5 March 2026 in Tampere, Finland, before American qualification took place. The pots were based on IFF World Ranking. Groups A and B were drawn from the first two pots, the top eight teams of the ranking. Groups C and D were formed from the remaining teams.[16]
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| Sweden | 1 |
| Finland | 2 |
| Czech Republic | 3 |
| Latvia | 4 |
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| Switzerland | 5 |
| Slovakia | 6 |
| Germany | 7 |
| Norway | 8 |
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| Estonia | 9 |
| Denmark | 10 |
| Philippines | 12 |
| Thailand | 13 |
| Team | Rank |
|---|---|
| AMER | – |
| Slovenia | 16 |
| Singapore | 17 |
| Japan | 23 |
Preliminary round
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Switzerland | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Latvia | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Finland | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Slovakia | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Czech Republic | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Sweden | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slovenia | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Singapore | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Thailand | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Estonia | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
Group D
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMER | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Japan | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Philippines | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
| Denmark | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | — | 0 |
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "IFF CB Meeting News 2/2023: WFC hosts awarded, Future of Floorball status and upcoming events". IFF Main Site. May 24, 2023.
- ^ "IFF Central Board meeting 7/2022 — 11.11.2022 as a physical meeting in Zurich, Switzerland" (PDF). 15 November 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
- ^ a b "Hallitustiedote: Suomi hakee miesten vuoden 2026 MM-kisoja – selvitystyö salibandyn kehityssuunnista alkaa". Suomen Salibandyliitto. December 1, 2022.
- ^ a b "Salibandyn miesten MM2026-kisoja haetaan Tampereelle ja naisten MM2027-tapahtumaa Turkuun". Suomen Salibandyliitto. March 24, 2023.
- ^ "Salibandyn miesten MM2026-kisoja haetaan Tampereelle ja naisten MM2027-tapahtumaa Turkuun | Suomen Salibandyliitto ry". www.sttinfo.fi.
- ^ "Miesten salibandyn MM2026-kisat".
- ^ "Salibandy sai täysosuman – miesten MM-kisat pelataan Tampereella 2026 ja naisten MM-turnaus Turussa 2027". Etelä-Suomen Sanomat. May 24, 2023.
- ^ "Events and Organisers 2023-2026". IFF Main Site.
- ^ ""Harvinaista herkkua" – Tampere järjestää miesten MM2026- ja Turku naisten MM2027-kisat | Suomen Salibandyliitto ry". www.sttinfo.fi.
- ^ Tiira, Jaakko (May 24, 2023). "MM-kisat Suomeen! Nokia-areena toimii päänäyttämönä". Ilta-Sanomat.
- ^ "35 teams registered for WFC 2026 & 20 teams for U19 WFC 2026". IFF Main Site. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
- ^ "These 10 European teams qualified for WFC 2026!". International Floorball Federation (IFF). 9 February 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
- ^ Varecka, James (23 January 2026). "A roundup of AOFC Qualifications!". International Floorball Federation (IFF). Retrieved 8 March 2026.
- ^ "IFF Central Board meeting 1/2025" (PDF). Retrieved 11 January 2026.
- ^ "Tampereella järjestetään miesten Salibandyn MM-kisat vuonna 2026". www.tampere.fi. May 25, 2023. Archived from the original on 2024-06-19.
- ^ "Here are the groups for the Men's WFC 2026!". International Floorball Federation (IFF). 5 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.