The group phase of the 2026 Olympic men's hockey tournament is complete, and the qualifying round matchups are set. With that, the path to the quarterfinal is also in sight as the potential matchups are revealed for the round following the qualifiers.
Following USA's 5-1 victory over Germany in the final game of the Olympic men's tournament group phase, the matchups for the qualifying round are set.
First off, four teams get a bye into the quarterfinal. Team Canada leads the Olympic standings, followed by the Americans, Slovakia and Finland, who get a free pass to the quarters.
The remaining eight teams in the competition will be competing in the qualifying round on Tuesday, which will inevitably determine the quarterfinal matchups in the next round.
The seeding going into the qualifying round is determined based on the overall standings in this men's Olympic tournament.
Here is what the matchups look like:
- No. 8 Czechia takes on No. 9 Denmark
- No. 7 Sweden takes on No. 10 Latvia
- No. 6 Germany takes on No. 11 France
- No. 5 Switzerland takes on No. 12 Italy
The first two games in Tuesday's qualifying round will take place at 6:10 a.m. EST. The next game will be at 10:40 a.m. EST, and the final qualifying outing is at 3:10 p.m. EST.
While it's known what time those games will start, the scheduling of which team plays at what time is still to be determined.
Erik Haula (David W Cerny/Reuters via Imagn Images)Beyond the qualifying round, the quarterfinal games are also set based on the seeding of the four teams that received a bye.
How it will go:
- Canada will face the winner between Czechia and Denmark
- USA will face the winner between Sweden and Latvia
- Slovakia will face the winner between Germany and France
- Finland will face the winner between Switzerland and Italy
Furthermore, because of the seeding of this tournament, the co-favorites of the Olympics men's hockey competition, Canada and USA, can only meet in the gold medal game if both teams get that far. The seeding will reset when the semifinal comes around.
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