Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships set for new era in Ostrava

The Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2026 will take place in Ostrava, Czechia, from 27 October to 1 November, bringing together 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams for the first edition under World Curling’s new competition structure.

The championships will be held at the RT Torax Arena, marking the first time Ostrava has hosted the event.

This year’s competition represents a significant change for European curling, with the championships becoming a standalone event in the 2026–2030 Olympic cycle. Unlike previous editions, the results will not determine qualification for the World Curling Championships.

New competition structure

Both the men’s and women’s competitions will feature 12 teams, divided into two groups of six. Teams will play five round-robin games and all games will be played over eight ends.

After the round robin, the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals. The first-placed team in Group A will face the second-placed team in Group B, while the winner of Group B will meet the runner-up from Group A.

The semi-final winners will advance to the gold medal games, with the losing teams competing for bronze.

How teams qualified

The 2026 championships feature an expanded field of 12 teams, following an increase from the previous 10-team format.

For this edition, qualification draws on results from the 2025 European Championships and World Curling rankings. The initial allocation included the top eight teams from the 2025 A-Division, the top two from the B-Division, and the two highest-ranked remaining European Member Associations not already qualified. Czechia is also represented through its host place in the women’s competition.

From 2027 onwards, qualification will be based on the top 12 European Member Associations from the previous season’s World Championship and World Championship Qualifier rankings. If a host is outside the top 12 but competes in the World Championship Qualifier, it can receive a host place, with the remaining field made up of the top 11 associations.

Teams

Men’s

The 12 men’s teams will be split into two groups.

Group A: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Scotland.
Group B: Czechia, Spain, Norway, Poland, Switzerland and Sweden.

The teams and their skips are:

Austria: Skipped by Mathias Genner, Austria finished tenth at the 2025 European Championships.
Belgium: Skipped by Timothy Verreycken, Belgium were winners of the 2025 B-Division title.
Czechia: Skipped by Lukas Klima, Czechia’s team made history by becoming the first Czech men’s team to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games at Milano Cortina 2026.
Spain: Skipped by Sergio Vez, Spain finished runner-up in the 2025 B-Division, securing a place among Europe’s top teams for 2026.
Germany: Skipped by Benjamin Kapp, Germany finished fifth in the 2025 European Championships round robin, narrowly missing out on the play-offs.
Italy: Skipped by Stefano Spiller, Italy will have a young skip at the helm as it looks to build on the nation’s fourth-place finish at the 2025 European Championships.
Netherlands: Skipped by Wouter Goesgens, the Netherlands finished sixth in the 2025 B-Division.
Norway: Skipped by Magnus Ramsfjell, Norway finished eighth at the 2025 European Championships and will be looking to improve on that result in Ostrava.
Poland: Skipped by Konrad Stych, Poland finished seventh at the 2025 European Championships, recording three wins in the round robin.
Scotland: Skipped by Grant Hardie, Scotland claimed bronze at the 2025 European Championships, with Hardie playing third on the medal-winning team.
Switzerland: Skipped by Marco Hoesli, Switzerland won silver at the 2025 European Championships after reaching the men’s final against Sweden.
Sweden: Skipped by Oskar Eriksson, Sweden are the reigning European champions after defeating Switzerland in the 2025 final.

Women’s

The women’s competition will also feature two groups of six.

Group A: Czechia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway and Switzerland.
Group B: Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Scotland, Sweden and Türkiye.

The teams and their skips are:

Czechia: Skipped by Alzbeta Zelingrova, Czechia finished tenth at the 2025 European Championships and will be looking to make the most of home-ice advantage in Ostrava.
Denmark: Skipped by Madeleine Dupont, Denmark finished fifth at the 2025 European Championships.
Estonia: Skipped by Marie Kaldvee, Estonia finished second in their round-robin group in the 2025 B-Division.
Germany: Skipped by Sara Messenzehl, Germany finished ninth at the 2025 European Championships and will be aiming to climb the standings in Ostrava.
Italy: Skipped by Giulia Zardini Lacedelli, Italy finished seventh at the 2025 European Championships, recording four round-robin wins.
Latvia: Skipped by Evelina Barone, Latvia won the women’s B-Division title in 2025, finishing the round robin with eight wins from nine games.
Lithuania: Skipped by Virginija Paulauskaite, Lithuania finished eighth at the 2025 European Championships and return to the expanded 12-team field in Ostrava.
Norway: Skipped by Torild Bjoernstad, Norway finished fourth at the 2025 European Championships, narrowly missing out on a place in the medal games.
Scotland: Skipped by Fay Henderson, Scotland won silver at the 2025 European Championships.
Switzerland: Skipped by Alina Paetz, Switzerland claimed bronze at the 2025 European Championship.
Sweden: Skipped by Isabella Wranaa, Sweden are the reigning European champions after defeating Scotland in the 2025 final.
Türkiye: Skipped by Dilsat Yildiz, Türkiye finished sixth at the 2025 European Championships after recording five wins in the round robin.

Schedule

The women’s round robin begins on Tuesday 27 October, with the men’s competition getting underway on Wednesday 28 October.

Round-robin play continues through to Saturday 31 October, when the men’s semi-finals will also take place. The women’s semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

The medal games will be played on Sunday 1 November, with the women’s gold and bronze medal games scheduled for 10:00 and the men’s medal games following at 14:00. All times are local to Ostrava, Czechia.

Find the full schedule and results here.

How to Watch

Follow the action from the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2026 through World Curling’s live scores and on the Curling Channel, subject to broadcast availability.

Event passes for this, and other competitions, are available here.

New sponsors

World Curling welcomes two new sponsors into its suite of partners with the inclusion of Raiffeisen Bank as the Official Banking partner and AJ Products as the Official Furniture partner.

Both partners are involved in the sponsorship of the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2026. Read more about the new sponsors here.