Women’s hockey debuted at the Olympic Games in 1998 and since then the game has skyrocketed in both player talent and popularity.

The launch of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) has propelled the sport even further since it started three years ago. The league allows players from around the world the opportunity to compete against the best of the best in 30 games a season; it has raised the global competition field exponentially.

"I think that the level of play at these Olympic Games is going to be better than it's ever been as a result of the resources and support that so many of these women have had through the PWHL," Jayna Hefford, five-time Olympian and Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the PWHL told Reuters.

Hefford said the league has 61 players competing at Milan Cortina for nearly every country.

The 2026 Women’s Olympic hockey tournament is made up of 10 countries, split into two groups of competition. Group A consists of teams that qualified based on their 2024 IIHF world ranking and Group B is made up of countries that qualified through tournaments play, as well as Italy, which earned an automatic spot as the host country.

Group A features the top-ranked teams in the world, while Group B teams had to earn their spots during the Olympic qualification tournament. The host country, Italy, got an automatic spot in the Olympics.

Group A: Canada, U.S., Finland, Czechia, Switzerland

Group B: Japan, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France

Canada:

The women's Canadian team dominates the overall gold-medal count at the Olympics with five. The squad is led by Marie-Philip Poulin who is in pursuit of a second-straight gold medal. A win for the Olympian would tie the record for most gold medals in hockey (4). While the U.S. swept Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series, the neighboring countries are expected to go head-to-head in the final for the Olympic crown.

U.S.:

To say that Team USA is hungry for a gold medal in women's hockey would be an understatement. The Americans last took home gold eight years ago at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Four-time Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield said prior to the Games that “a gold medal and gold medal only” is the expectation for the U.S. And all eyes are on captain and five-time Olympian Hilary Knight, who announced that the 2026 Games will be her last and she's made it clear she's going out on top. Laila Edwards will also make history in her Olympic debut as she becomes the first Black woman to ever compete for the U.S. women's hockey team at the Olympics Games.

Finland:

Finland earned a bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in women's hockey after they defeated Switzerland 4-0. They've taken home bronze in the tournament four times. The Finnish team has four current PWHL players. Milan Cortina will be the fifth Olympics for PWHL forward Michelle Karvinen, who has earned three bronze medals with Finland.

Czechia: 

The Czech team features eight PWHL stars, including the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, New York Sirens forward Kristyna Kaltounkova. Four years ago in Beijing, Czechia competed in the Olympics for the first time and finished 7th overall out of 10 countries. Now, they're the 4th best team in the world by IIHF rankings and Kaltounkova said the team is looking to "create some chaos" in the Olympic tournament.

Switzerland:

The Swiss team finished 4th at the 2022 Beijing Games. The team features two PWHL stars in Alina Muller and Nicole Vallario.

Japan:

Former PWHL forward Akane Shiga leads the Japan team that finished 6th overall at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Sweden:

Sweden finished 8th overall at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Germany:

Germany is back in the Olympic tournament for the first time since 2014. The team has three PWHL players.

Italy: 

Italy last competed in the women's Olympic hockey tournament 20 years ago when they were also the host nation in Turin. The Italian squad features one PWHL player, Kristin Della Rovere, who competed in the Games 2006 Games in Turin. Look for the Italians to ride the momentum of the home crowd on the world's biggest stage.

France:

This year marks the first Olympics at which the French women's hockey team has competed. While France does not have any current PWHL players on the roster, members of the team compete in the EWHL as well as leagues across Europe. French forward Chloe Aurard-Bushee played two seasons in the PWHL for the New York Sirens and now competes in Switzerland for the ZSC Lions.

The entire women’s Olympic hockey tournament will be streamed live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com: