The Federation of International Bandy -FIB- has confirmed the ten clubs that will compete in the World Cup Club Teams Men 16 from 30 October to 1 November 2026. The Kronfågel Indoor Arena in Katrineholm, Sweden, will host the first international tournament of the 2026-2027 season, featuring six Swedish clubs, three Norwegian teams and one Finnish representative.
Although much of Europe is still experiencing summer, bandy is already preparing for its return. The Mini World Cup will open the international calendar four decades after it was established in Bollnäs and will stage its second consecutive edition in Katrineholm. The tournament will bring together the two most recent champions, IFK Vänersborg and Villa Lidköping, increase its field from 2025 and once again present leading Nordic academies with their first international challenge of the new season.
Six Swedish clubs, three Norwegian teams and one Finnish representative
IK Sirius, Katrineholms SK, Spånga/Helenelund and Tillberga Bandy will join IFK Vänersborg and Villa Lidköping in representing Sweden. Norway will send Ready Bandy, Røa Bandy and Øvrevoll Hosle Idrettslag -ÖHIL-, a multi-sport club based in Bærum, near Oslo. Porin Narukerä will be the only participant from Finland. The FIB has published the complete list of teams, although the groups and match schedule have yet to be announced.
The 2026 edition will expand from nine to ten clubs and include several changes from the previous tournament. IFK Vänersborg, Villa Lidköping, Spånga/Helenelund and Tillberga will return, while IK Sirius will join the Swedish contingent. Ready, Røa and ÖHIL will replace Solberg and Stabæk among the Norwegian teams, while Porin Narukerä takes the Finnish place occupied by Mikkelin Kampparit in 2025. The club from Pori also brings the history of an organisation that won Finland’s senior national championships in 1999 and 2023.
Forty years since the tournament began in Bollnäs
The competition, traditionally known as the Mini World Cup, was established in Bollnäs in 1986 and remained there for 34 consecutive years. It became an important fixture in youth bandy before experiencing interruptions and changes related to the pandemic and the construction of a new indoor arena in the city. The tournament returned to Bollnäs in 2023 and was held there again in 2024. The 2026 edition will therefore mark 40 years since its creation, although those interruptions mean it will not necessarily be the 40th staging.
Bollnäs GIF withdrew from organising the competition in 2025 because it did not have the operational capacity to continue, prompting the Swedish Bandy Association to appoint Katrineholm Bandy as the new local organiser. The city will now host the event for a second consecutive year at the Kronfågel Indoor Arena, a facility opened in 2020 that allows matches to be played indoors and reduces reliance on weather conditions at the beginning of the season. The choice also reconnects the tournament with the area’s bandy tradition: between 1969 and 1974, Katrineholms SK reached four Swedish championship finals and won three national titles.
The last two champions meet again
IFK Vänersborg will arrive as defending champion after defeating Villa Lidköping 4-3 in the 2025 final. Vänersborg established a 3-0 lead inside the opening ten minutes, but its opponent equalised before half-time. Felix Forsström scored the winning goal in the 44th minute to complete a hat-trick and secure the title. Solberg SK claimed bronze by defeating the combined Katrineholm and Västerås team. A year earlier, Villa Lidköping had won the 2024 tournament in Bollnäs with a 3-2 victory over Edsbyns IF. The 2026 field will therefore feature the two most recent champions and provide a rematch of the latest final.
The FIB has yet to confirm the competition format for 2026. Its general regulations state that participating clubs must be nominated by their respective national federations and prohibit the creation of temporary teams exclusively for the tournament. The Swedish Bandy Association will act as host federation, while Katrineholm Bandy will oversee the local organisation of the new season’s first international event.
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