About the Championship

After nine years, the Men’s and Women’s Ball Hockey World Championship will return to the Czech Republic in 2026. For the first time in history, this prestigious event will take place in Moravia and Silesia, specifically in the city of Ostrava. From June 20 to June 28, the world’s best male and female ball hockey players will compete on both rinks of Ostravar Aréna, which also offers extensive facilities including an athletics hall.

Preparations for this exceptional championship were launched by the Czech Ball Hockey Federation (ČMSHb) two years in advance. A key milestone came in September 2024, when the ČMSHb, the Moravian-Silesian Region, and the Statutory City of Ostrava signed a memorandum of cooperation to jointly organize and financially support this major sporting event.

The World Championship in Ostrava will showcase elite ball hockey in both men’s and women’s categories. The men’s tournament will feature 12 teams divided into two performance groups, while the women’s competition will include 6 national teams competing in a single group.

In the men’s category, Group A consists of Czechia, Slovakia, the USA, Canada, Switzerland, and Finland. Group B includes Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain, the Cayman Islands, and India. In the women’s tournament, fans can look forward to teams from Czechia, Canada, Slovakia, Switzerland, the USA, and Great Britain.

The preliminary round will be played in a round-robin format within each group. In the men’s tournament, all six teams from Group A and the top two teams from Group B will advance to the playoffs. The knockout stage will determine not only the world champion but also the final rankings in both performance tiers. In the women’s tournament, the group stage will be followed by semifinals (1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3), a 5th place game, a bronze medal match, and the final.

Preliminary round games will be played in a 3×15-minute format, 5-on-5. If tied, games will go to a 5-minute overtime played 4-on-4, followed by a shootout if necessary. In the playoffs, overtime is extended to 10 minutes played 5-on-5. The men’s and women’s finals will feature continuous sudden-death overtime periods of 15 minutes each until a winning goal is scored.

One of the main goals of the championship is to break the attendance record. The most attended tournament so far took place in Pardubice in 2017, attracting 72,520 spectators. It was also in this Czech city where the record for a single game was set, as 7,592 fans watched the match between Czechia and India.

However, the Ostrava championship will offer much more than just thrilling matches. The side program will involve schools and kindergartens, while local personalities, athletes, and ambassadors of the city and region will also take part. The aim is to raise the visibility of ball hockey not only in the Moravian-Silesian Region but also on a nationwide level.