Qualification for the women's ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. The host along with the top six 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.[1] The participation of Russia is not yet confirmed and depends on if the team is allowed to return to the IIHF Championship program.[2]
| Event | Date | Location | Vacancies | Qualified | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosts | 23 May 2023[3] |  Tampere | 1 | ||
| 2024 IIHF World Ranking | 20 August 2021 – 14 April 2024 |  Utica | 6 | ||
| Final qualification tournaments | 6 – 9 February 2025 | TBD | 1 | ||
| TBD | 1 | ||||
| TBD | 1 | ||||
| Total | 10 | ||||
To qualify directly, a nation has to be ranked in the top six following the 2024 Women'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. The table below represents the standings of the 45 current participants, and Russia (whose status is yet to be determined).
| Qualified directly to Olympic tournament | ||
| Entered in Final Olympic qualification | ||
| Entered in Round 2 | ||
| Entered in Round 1 (cancelled) | ||
| Did not enter Olympic qualification |
| Qualifying seed | width=100 | Team | WC2024 (100%) | WC2023 (75%) | WC2022 (50%) | OLY2022 (50%) | WC2021 (25%) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1600 | 1560 | 1200 | 1200 | 1200 | 4270 | ||
| 2 | 1560 | 1600 | 1160 | 1160 | 1160 | 4210 | ||
| 3 | 1520 | 1460 | 1040 | 1120 | 1120 | 3975 | ||
| 4 | 1500 | 1520 | 1120 | 1020 | 1020 | 3965 | ||
| 5 | 1460 | 1500 | 1100 | 1100 | 1100 | 3960 | ||
| 6 | 1440 | 1460 | 1100 | 1060 | 1060 | 3880 | ||
| 7 | 1400 | 1420 | 1060 | 1040 | 1040 | 3775 | ||
| 8 | 1420 | 1440 | 1020 | 1000 | 960 | 3750 | ||
| 9 | 1440 | 1400 | 960 | 860 | 1000 | 3650 | ||
| 10 | 1300 | 1360 | 1000 | 920 | 960 | 3520 | ||
| 11 | 1340 | 1300 | 940 | 940 | 940 | 3490 | ||
| 12 | 1360 | 1320 | 820 | 960 | 740 | 3425 | ||
| 13 | 1280 | 1340 | 920 | 880 | 920 | 3415 | ||
| 14 | 1320 | 1240 | 900 | 840 | 880 | 3340 | ||
| 15 | 1260 | 1280 | 860 | 900 | 860 | 3315 | ||
| 16 | 1200 | 1220 | 880 | 820 | 840 | 3175 | ||
| 17 | 1240 | 1260 | 840 | 740 | 780 | 3170 | ||
| 18 | 1220 | 1200 | 740 | 780 | 800 | 3080 | ||
| Host | 1160 | 1160 | 780 | 800 | 820 | 3025 | ||
| 19 | 1100 | 1180 | 800 | 760 | 760 | 2955 | ||
| 20 | 1140 | 1120 | 700 | 720 | 660 | 2855 | ||
| 21 | 1120 | 1140 | 720 | 680 | 680 | 2845 | ||
| 22 | 1080 | 1100 | 760 | 660 | 720 | 2795 | ||
| 23 | 1060 | 1060 | 660 | 700 | 640 | 2695 | ||
| 24 | 1040 | 1040 | 620 | 640 | 620 | 2605 | ||
| 25 | 1020 | 1020 | 640 | 620 | 540 | 2550 | ||
| 26 | 1180 | 1080 | 680 | 0 | 700 | 2505 | ||
| 27 | 1000 | 1000 | 580 | 600 | 520 | 2470 | ||
| 28 | 880 | 860 | 540 | 580 | 580 | 2230 | ||
| 920 | 840 | 360 | 560 | 460 | 2125 | |||
| 940 | 940 | 560 | 0 | 560 | 2065 | |||
| 980 | 960 | 460 | 0 | 400 | 2030 | |||
| 900 | 920 | 540 | 0 | 500 | 1985 | |||
| 29 | 800 | 800 | 440 | 520 | 340 | 1965 | ||
| 860 | 900 | 520 | 0 | 420 | 1900 | |||
| 30 | 740 | 760 | 420 | 540 | 360 | 1880 | ||
| 31 | 760 | 880 | 500 | 0 | 480 | 1790 | ||
| 840 | 820 | 460 | 0 | 380 | 1780 | |||
| 32 | 820 | 780 | 420 | 0 | 440 | 1725 | ||
| 33 | 700 | 740 | 340 | 0 | 320 | 1505 | ||
| 34 | 780 | 720 | 320 | 0 | 0 | 1480 | ||
| 960 | 0 | 620 | 0 | 600 | 1420 | |||
| 640 | 680 | 300 | 0 | 300 | 1375 | |||
| 680 | 700 | 280 | 0 | 0 | 1345 | |||
| 35 | 720 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 720 | ||
| 660 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 660 |
This round was canceled.[4] It was meant to take place between 7–10 November, 2024, and consist of three groups of teams ranked 25th or lower.[1] [5] Teams entered in Group A were Chinese Taipei, Bulgaria and Croatia; teams in Group B were Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Thailand; and teams in Group C were Iceland, Turkey, Estonia and Serbia.[6]
The three highest ranked teams, Chinese Taipei, Latvia and Iceland, advanced to Round 2.[7]
Twelve countries will play in three tournaments 12–15 December, 2024, involving nations ranked 16th to 24th and those who advanced from Round 1 (named Qualifier 4, 5, and 6). If nations decline to participate then those ranked lower will move up to fill their place.[1]
The tournament will be held in Piešťany, Slovakia.[4]
The tournament will be held in Sheffield, Great Britain.[4]
The tournament will be held in Bytom, Poland.[4]
Twelve countries will play in three tournaments 6–9 February, 2025 involving nations ranked 7th to 15th, and the three winners of the Round 2 tournaments. The winners advance to the Olympic tournament and play in group B.[1]
The tournament will be held in Bremerhaven, Germany.[4]