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The 2026 IIHF World Hockey Championship will showcase top hockey nations competing for glory. Fans can find ways to watch the event live online for free.
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After a dominant Winter Olympic Games, which saw Team USA take home the gold medal, the worldâs best hockey nations are once again facing off on the ice for the 2026 Ice Hockey World Championship.
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This yearâs event takes place from May 15 to 31 in Switzerland, with 16 countries competing, including the U.S. menâs team, who are the defending champions.
Want to watch the World Hockey Championship? This yearâs tournament airs in the U.S. on the NHL Network, which youâll find in select specialty cable packages. Donât have cable? There are also a few ways to livestream the IIHF World Championship online.
DIRECTV is a streaming service that offers dozens of live television channels that you can watch online without needing a cable subscription. NHL Network is included in DIRECTVâs MySports genre pack, which is currently on sale for $44.99/month (regularly $64.99/month) for your first two months of service.
The deal gets you access to a live NHL Network feed so you can watch the World Hockey Championship online without cable. You also have access to more than two dozen other sports and broadcast channels, including MLB Network, NBA TV, ESPN and FS1. And your monthly price includes a subscription to ESPN Unlimited.
The NHL Network is available on a number of other DIRECTV packages, including their Ultimate and Premier tiers, the latter of which gets you more than 185 live TV channels to stream online. Donât want to commit? Test drive DIRECTV with a five-day free trial here and use it to livestream the Ice Hockey World Championship online for free.
One of our favorite live streamers for sports is Fubo, which carries a live NHL Network feed as part of its Fubo Ultra package. Regularly $83.99/month, the Ultra package is marked down to $53.99 for your first month of service, with NHL Network and more than 260 other live TV channels included. Use Fubo to livestream the World Hockey Championship online in the U.S. Fubo offers a free trial that you can use to stream the hockey games free for five days.
Sling doesnât have a free trial, but itâs one of the most affordable live TV streamers online. Sling offers NHL Network as part of its Sports Extra package, which you can add on to any Sling plan for an additional $11/month. We recommend going with the $20 Essentials plan, which gets you sports coverage on ESPN along with 10+ other channels. Then add on the Sports Extra package to get NHL Network, MLB TV, NBA TV and more.
GET: SLING ESSENTIALS & SPORTS EXTRA $31+
Note: Sling pricing and availability may vary by region. See all plan details online at Sling.com.
You can also watch the IIHF Ice Hockey Championship online using a virtual private network (VPN), which lets you access live feeds from outside the U.S. Specifically, you can use a VPN to livestream the hockey tournament on IIHF.TV.
GET: EXPRESSVPN SUBSCRIPTION DEAL $3.49+
We recommend ExpressVPN which has pricing from just $3.49/month. Set your IP location to the United Kingdom to access the IIHF TV live feeds. Or you can also set your location to a Scandinavian country to watch the hockey games online through Viaplay.
There are 16 teams entered in this yearâs tournament. Group A includes USA, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria, Hungary and Great Britain. Group B features Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Denmark, Slovakia, Norway, Slovenia and Italy.
Team USAâs roster includes Matthew Tkachuk, who won Olympic gold in February, along with NHL stars like Seattle Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier. Detroit Red Wings star Justin Faulk is the U.S. team captain. Of course, not all the NHL stars are available for the World Hockey Championship, as the Stanley Cup playoffs are still taking place. Other stars, like U.S. Olympic hockey hero Jack Hughes, have decided to sit this yearâs tournament out.
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You can find various streaming platforms that offer free access to the 2026 IIHF World Hockey Championship live online.
The championship features the world's best hockey nations, including Team USA, among others.
The exact start date for the 2026 IIHF World Hockey Championship will be announced closer to the event.
The championship is significant as it brings together top hockey nations to compete for international titles and showcase their talent.
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