The playoff round of the 2026 IIHF World Championship was held from 28 to 31 May 2026. The top four of each preliminary group qualified for the playoff round.
Qualified teams GroupWinnersRunners-upThird placeFourth placeAB
Qualified teams' seedings Quarter-finalists were paired according to their positions in the groups: the first-placed team in each preliminary-round group played the fourth-place team of the other group, while the second-place team played the third-place team of the other group.
Semi-finalists were paired according to their seeding after the preliminary round, which was determined by the following criteria. The best-ranked semi-finalist played against the lowest-ranked semi-finalist, while the second-best ranked semi-finalist played the third-best ranked semi-finalist.
Rank Team 1 A 1 21 +32 39 3 2 B 1 20 +20 33 4 3 A 2 18 +20 31 7 4 B 2 15 +11 25 13 5 B 3 13 +2 19 6 6 A 3 12 +7 24 11 7 B 4 12 +11 27 5 8 A 4 11 +4 25 2 Classification rules: 1)position in the group; 2)number of points; 3)goal difference; 4)number of goals scored for; 5)seeding number entering the tournament.
Bracket There was a re-seeding after the quarterfinals.
All times are local (UTC+2).
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Bronze medal game
Gold medal game
References
External links Official website