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

 * 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.

Olympic 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.

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

All times are local (UTC±0).

Group L
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.

All times are local (UTC+1).

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

All times are local (UTC+1).

Olympic qualification Round 3
Twelve countries played in three tournaments to determine qualifiers for the next round. Each tournament winner was ranked by their qualification seeding and entered the next round as qualifier four, five, or six. The tournaments were played between 8 and 11 February 2024.

Group G
The tournament was held in Budapest, Hungary.

All times are local (UTC+1).

Group H
The tournament was held in Cardiff, Great Britain.

All times are local (UTC+0).

Group J
The tournament was held in Sosnowiec, Poland.

All times are local (UTC+1).

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. On February 12, 2024, the IIHF announced that Belarus was disqualified from Olympic qualification forcing the redrawing of the final round and admitting the best second place finisher from the previous round, Hungary.

Group D
The tournament will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia.

All times are local (UTC+2).

Group E
The tournament will be held in Riga, Latvia.

All times are local (UTC+2).

Group F
The tournament will be held in Aalborg, Denmark.

All times are local (UTC+1).