2026 Olympic Women’s Hockey Preview: France

For the first time in women’s hockey history, France will hit the ice at the Olympic Games, making their debut at Milano-Cortina 2026 before hosting at French Alps 2030. 

Significantly underdogs in the weaker Group B, France has enjoyed relative success in recent years in Division 1A, the second tier of the IIHF Women’s World Championships, finishing one point off promotion to the top flight in 2025. 

Led by head coach Grégory Tarlé since 2013, France enter the tournament with incredible consistency behind the bench, while boasting a roster featuring seven players in North America across the NCAA and U Sports. 

HOW THEY GOT HERE

France makes its debut on the biggest stage a year earlier than expected. While they would have had an automatic berth to the 2030 tournament as host, they enter this year’s tournament as a replacement team for Russia in both men’s and women’s competition. 

The IIHF announced the group assignments for the 2026 tournament in February 2025 and indicated at the time that France would participate “as the second best placed team – according to the Combined Ranking from the three Final Olympic Qualification Groups played in February 2025.”

In preparation for the Games, France hosted a four-team event in December against Japan, Hungary and Slovakia, where they picked up a lone win against Hungary in their four contests, having faced the Hungarians twice. 

OFFENSE

France’s forward group includes its most talented players, including its lone player with PWHL experience, Chloé Aurard-Bushee, who scored three goals and nine points in 12 regular-season games for the New York Sirens through 2024 and 2024-25. 

While Aurard-Bushee is no longer in the world’s top league, she has found her offensive stride with three goals and seven points in six games with Switzerland’s ZSC Lions, as she looks to rekindle the form that saw her net 20 goals and 54 points in 38 games with Northeastern University in her final NCAA season. 

Outside of their talismanic offensive lead, France will lean on Estelle Duvin and Jade Barbirati. Duvin, 28, has been an offensive powerhouse in 2025-26, netting 21 goals and 47 points with Switzerland’s SC Bern through the first 27 games of the season. 

The former University of Montréal standout has enjoyed immense success in her European professional career, averaging well over a point per game over the last five seasons across Switzerland and Finland. 

At the most recent Division 1A tournament, she netted four goals and nine points to lead tournament scoring, despite France missing out on promotion. 

Barbirati brings a youthful edge to the team, having established herself as an offensive playmaker with the Quinnipiac Bobcats in 2025-26. 

While the top trio leads the forwards group, it is rounded out by other young North American-based talents, including Manon Le Scodan of Clarkson University, Julia Mespede from the University of Vermont and Emma Nonnenmacher of Concordia University.

DEFENSE

France’s defense was one of the primary reasons the team missed out on promotion in the 2025 Division 1A tournament. While their offense scored 15 goals, tied for the most in the tournament, they allowed 13, the fourth-worst, solidifying their ranking. 

Heading to France, the group will look to make significant improvements in their roster balance, even against some strong teams in the preliminary rounds. 

Among the seven defenders in the roster, only three currently play professionally, with Sophie Leclerc skating for Grenoble in France, Marie-Pierre Pelissou playing with HC Davos in Switzerland, and Lea Villot with Ingolstadt in the European Women’s Hockey League. 

Of the pro players, the 30-year-old Pelissou has had the most notable season, with a goal and eight points, even as Davos struggles, currently sixth in the eight-team league after 28 regular-season contests. 

The remainder of the blueline comes from U Sports, the NCAA or Ontario women’s hockey, with the University of Montreal’s Lea Berger joining Lindenwood University pair Elinza Zilliox and Lucie Quatro.

Gabrielle De Serres joins from the Sudbury Lady Wolves, having stepped back from the pro game. Throughout her pro seasons, she played with the Montréal Force in the Premier Hockey Federation, the previous women’s professional league in North America, before testing the waters in France’s domestic league with Cergy-Pontoise. 

What she may lack in top-end experience, she makes up for with winning, having captured two Ontario University titles with the University of Toronto. 

Taking on some of Sweden and Germany’s offensive talents in group play could prove a challenge for France. Still, the goal remains to avoid blowouts and ensure that the relatively strong attacking force is not washed away. 

GOALTENDING

France’s goaltending will be busy in Italy, but they’ve got some depth and strength at the position, headlined by former Concordia goaltender and 2022 U Sports champion, Alice Philbert. 

A French and Canadian citizen, Philbert played under famed Canadian and USA stars Caroline Ouellette and Julie Chu with Concacaf, where she backstopped the team to a national title, featuring a spell of seven shutouts in her last seven games. 

For two years during her five seasons in Canadian university hockey, she had a save percentage above .930 and was widely regarded as one of the best goalies in big moments. 

Philbert was not a French citizen when she graduated, but became eligible after the French Hockey Federation told her she needed to play at least 2 seasons in France to qualify for Milan Cortina. 

As part of that plan, the now 29-year-old spent time with the Wasquehal Lions in the French men’s fourth division, helping the team earn promotion to the third tier in her first season. 

Now playing with the women’s team EV Bozen in Italy, she will be backed up by teenagers Margaux Mameri and Violette Pianel-Couriaut, both of whom play in the French U20 league. 

COACHING

Grégory Tarlé brings unquestioned consistency behind the France bench, having led the national team program since 2013, while also taking the youth national teams into his portfolio. 

The 42-year-old stated in a recent interview that he sees the quarterfinals as the goal for the Olympic debutants, which would require them to finish among the top three in their group alongside Germany, Japan, Italy, and Sweden.

Success against similar teams isn’t a total long shot throughout his time, either. In 2018, he helped France secure a first-ever promotion to the top division of the World Championships.

Their World Championship debut in 2019 saw their first victory, an overtime win over Germany. Since then, Tarlé also led the team back to the top flight for the 2023 tournament, where they lost all four games and were outscored by a combined 29-5 against Hungary, Sweden, Germany and Finland. 

“It’s a strong group where everyone knows their role and place, and beyond our differences, we unite around a shared passion and objective,” he said of his roster. 

“The depth of the group will be its strength, its desire to persevere and pursue its dream of success. We’ll need to play to our strengths to achieve our goal of reaching the quarterfinals, which is a significant challenge but reflects where we are: we’ve already been ranked ninth in the world, and we need to break into the quarterfinals.”

BURNING QUESTION

Will Players Have a Chance to Stand Out?

The Olympics will be challenging for France, and even reaching the quarterfinals could be a step too far. Still, they provide the perfect stage for relatively unknown talents to turn heads, potentially opening doors in Europe and North America. 

However, the ability to stand out positively is much easier when avoiding blowout losses, where game state and scorelines can impact how much an individual influences a contest. 

France should beat Italy, but strong performances against any other Group B opponents could be life-changing for some players. 

PREDICTION

Tarlé has said he wants to make the quarterfinals, and two wins would probably give them a chance. Beat Italy, and find a win against likely Japan as the other option, potentially passing both in the standings and matching up with a Group A powerhouse. 

That’s the exact prediction I’m going with — and then they’ll have a… learning experience, against USA or Canada in the quarterfinals. 

FULL ROSTER

Forwards

Chloe Aurad-Bushee (ZSC Lions Frauen, SWHL)
Jade Barbirat (Quinnipiac University, NCAA)
Lore Baudrit (Ingolstadt, EWHL)
Clemence Boudin (Saint-Gervais, FFHG)
Estelle Duvin (SC Bern, SWHL)
Sehana Galbrun (HIFK, Auroraliiga)
Margot Huot-Marchand (Rögle BK, HockeyAllsvenskan)
Manon Le Scodan (Clarkson University, NCAA)
Julia Mespede (University of Vermont, NCAA)
Emma Nonnenmacher (Concordia University, USports)
Anais Peyne-Dingival (John Abbot College, QCHL)
Clara Rozier (SC Bern, SWHL)
Anae Simon (Lyon, France2)

Defenders

Lea Berger (University of Montréal, U Sports)
Gabrielle De Serres (Sudbury Lady Wolves, SDGHA)
Sophie Leclerc (Grenoble, France1)
Marie-Pierre Pelissou (Davos, SWHL)
Lucie Quarto (Lindenwood University, NCAA)
Lea Villot, (Ingolstadt, EWHL)
Elina Zilliox (Lindenwood University, NCAA)

Goaltenders

Margaux Mameri (Meudon, France U20)
Alice Philbert (EV Bozen Eagles, EWHL)
Violette Pianel-Couriaut (Villard-de-Lans, France U20)

PRELIMINARY ROUND SCHEDULE

• Thursday, Feb. 5: France vs. Italy, 8:40 a.m. ET
• Friday, Feb. 6: Japan vs. France, 6:10 a.m. ET
• Sunday, Feb. 8: Sweden vs. France, 10:40 a.m. ET
• Monday, Feb. 9: France vs. Germany, 10:40 a.m. ET

The quarterfinals will begin on Feb. 13 and conclude the following day. Both semifinals are taking place on Feb. 16. The tournament will wrap up on Feb. 19 with both the gold and bronze medal games.