National team appearances in the Ice Hockey World Championships

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This article lists the performances of each of the 57 national teams which have made at least one appearance in the Ice Hockey World Championships, an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), including the Olympic ice hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year, and was held before the first Ice Hockey World Championship as an individual event in 1930. With the exception between 1940 and 1946, when no championships were held during World War II, nor were held during the Olympic years 1980, 1984, and 1988. In 2020, the IIHF announced that all World Championship tournaments have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions-related issues.[1][2]

Sweden has appeared in 79 out of 84 tournaments to date, with Canada, having participated in 74, and Finland in 67. Although the United States has appeared in 72 top division tournaments and five in lower divisions. In the 1969 event, the U.S. was unsuccessful at the tournament, finished in last place in Group A (now Top Division) after losing all ten games. This marks the first time in Men's Worlds history, the United States was relegated to Group B (now Division I) until the 1970 event, the U.S. finished in first place in Group B (7th overall) after winning all seven games and were promoted back to Group A.

Canada is the current World Champion, defeating Finland in the gold medal game at the 2021 IIHF World Championship. Since the IIHF introduced a playoff system in 1992, Switzerland has appeared in two World Championship finals, finished as the runners-up after losing to Sweden twice in 2013 and 2018. The United States is the only "Big Six" team to have struggled in the World Championship playoff round and never advanced past the semifinals. The U.S. has never appeared in the gold medal game.

Debut of teams[]

A total of 57 national teams have participated for at least one IIHF World Championship through the 2019 event, and at least three will debut in 2022. Each successive IIHF World Championships has had at least one team appearing for the first time, in alphabetical order per year. Teams in parentheses are considered successor teams by the IIHF.

Notes:

  • Between 1920 and 1968, the Olympic ice hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.
  • Each of the national teams have made their debut that participate in the lower division of the World Championship.[a]

Key:

  •   dagger   – The Summer Olympic Games Ice Hockey Tournament held that year counted as the World Championship
  •   *   – The Winter Olympic Games Ice Hockey Tournament held that year counted as the World Championship
Year Debutants Successor teams
Teams Number CT
1920 dagger  Belgium,  Canada,  Czechoslovakia,[b]  France,  Sweden,   Switzerland,  United States 7 7
1924 *  Great Britain 1 8
1928 *  Austria,  Germany,[c]  Hungary,  Poland 4 12
1930  Italy,  Japan 2 14
1931  Romania 1 15
1932 * None 0 15
1933  Latvia 1 16
1934 None 0 16
1935  Netherlands 1 17
1936 * None 0 17
1937  Norway 1 18
1938  Lithuania 1 19
1939  Finland, Yugoslavia[d] 2 21
1940 No tournaments were held during World War II
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947 None 0 21
1948 *
1949  Denmark 1 22
1950 None 0 22
1951 Yugoslavia (Group B)[d]
1952 * West Germany[c]
1953
1954  Soviet Union[e] 1 23
1955 None 0 23
1956 * East Germany (Group B)[c] 1 24
1957 None 0 24
1958
1959
1960 *  Australia 1 25
1961  South Africa (Group C) 1 26
1962 None 0 26
1963  Bulgaria (Group C) 1 27
1964 * None 0 27
1965
1966
1967
1968 *
1969
1970
1971
1972  China (Group C) 1 28
1973 None 0 28
1974  North Korea (Group C) 1 29
1975 None 0 29
1976
1977  Spain (Group C) 1 30
1978 None 0 30
1979  South Korea (Group C) 1 31
1980 No tournaments were held during the 1980 Winter Olympic Games
1981 None 0 31
1982
1983
1984 No tournaments were held during the 1984 Winter Olympic Games
1985 None 0 31
1986
1987  Hong Kong (Group D),  New Zealand (Group D) 2[f] 33
1988 No tournaments were held during the 1988 Winter Olympic Games
1989 None 0 33
1990
1991  Germany[c]
1992  Greece (Group C2),  Israel (Group C2),  Luxembourg (Group C2),  Turkey (Group C2) 4 37  Russia[e]
1993  Belarus (Group C),  Croatia (Group C),  Estonia (Group C),  Kazakhstan (Group C),  Slovenia (Group C),  Ukraine (Group C) 6 43  Czech Republic[b]
1994  Slovakia (Group C1) 1 44
1995 None 0 44  FR Yugoslavia (Group C)[d]
1996
1997
1998
1999  Iceland (Group D) 1 45
2000  Mexico (Group D) 1 46
2001 None 0 46
2002
2003  Serbia and Montenegro (Division II A)[d]
2004  Armenia (Division III),  Ireland (Division III) 2 48
2005 None 0 48
2006
2007  Mongolia (Division III) 1 49  Serbia (Division II A)[d]
2008  Bosnia & Herzegovina (Division III Q) 1 50
2009 None 0 50
2010  United Arab Emirates (Division III) 1 51
2011 None 0 51
2012
2013  Georgia (Division III Q) 1 52
2014 None 0 52
2015
2016
2017  Chinese Taipei (Division III)[f] 1 53
2018  Kuwait (Division III Q),  Turkmenistan (Division III Q) 2 55
2019  Kyrgyzstan (Division III Q),  Thailand (Division III Q) 2 57
2020 Tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 All lower division tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2022  Iran (Division IV),  Malaysia (Division IV),  Singapore (Division IV) 3[g] 60
TBD – 60

With 57 national teams to have participated through the 2019 event, the IIHF World Championships is the fourth most participated men's world championship, behind the FIFA World Cup (79), the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship (59), and the FIBA Basketball World Cup (59), and ahead of the IHF World Men's Handball Championship (53), the Rugby World Cup (25), the Men's FIH Hockey World Cup (25), the Cricket World Cup (20), and the World Baseball Classic (20).

Ranking of teams by number of appearances[]

Team Number of appearances Debut Most recent Best result
 Sweden 79 1920 2021 Champions (11 times)
 Canada 74 1920 2021 Champions (27 times)
 United States 72 (5 in lower divisions) 1920 2021 Champions (1933, 1960)
 Finland 67 1939 2021 Champions (1995, 2011, 2019)
  Switzerland 53 (25 in lower divisions) 1920 2021 Runners-up (1935, 2013, 2018)
 Norway 35 (32 in lower divisions) 1937 2021 4th place (1951)
 France 33 (34 in lower divisions) 1920 2019 6th place (1920, 1924, 1928, 1930)
 Italy 32 (35 in lower divisions) 1930 2021 4th place (1953)
 Poland 30 (42 in lower divisions) 1928 2019 4th place (1931)
 Austria 29 (45 in lower divisions) 1928 2019 3rd place (1931, 1947)
 Latvia 29 (4 in lower divisions) 1933 2021 7th place (1997, 2004, 2009)
 Slovakia 25 (2 in lower divisions) 1994 2021 Champions (2002)
 Denmark 19 (34 in lower divisions) 1949 2021 8th place (2010, 2016)
 Belarus 19 (9 in lower divisions) 1993 2021 6th place (2006)
 Hungary 13 (52 in lower divisions) 1928 2019 5th place (1937)
 Japan 13 (42 in lower divisions) 1930 2019 6th place (1930)
 Belgium 12 (43 in lower divisions) 1920 2019 7th place (1920, 1924, 1950)
 Great Britain 12 (46 in lower divisions) 1924 2021 Champions (1936)
 Romania 10 (52 in lower divisions) 1931 2019 7th place (1947)
 Kazakhstan 9 (19 in lower divisions) 1993 2021 10th place (2021)
 Slovenia 9 (18 in lower divisions) 1993 2019 13th place (2002, 2005)
 Ukraine 9 (18 in lower divisions) 1993 2019 9th place (2002)
 Netherlands 4 (54 in lower divisions) 1935 2019 8th place (1950, 1981)
 Australia 1 (35 in lower divisions) 1960 2019 9th place (1960)
 South Korea 1 (33 in lower divisions) 1979 2019 16th place (2018)
 Lithuania 1 (27 in lower divisions) 1938 2019 10th place (1938)
 Bulgaria 0 (50 in lower divisions) 1963 2019 14th place (8th in Group B) (1970)
 China 0 (42 in lower divisions) 1972 2019 15th place (6th in Group B) (1982)
 Spain 0 (37 in lower divisions) 1977 2019 22nd place (5th in Group C) (1977)
 South Africa 0 (30 in lower divisions) 1961 2019 19th place (3rd in Group C) (1966)
 Israel 0 (28 in lower divisions) 1992 2019 28th place (6th in Division I A) (2006)
 Croatia 0 (27 in lower divisions) 1993 2019 24th place (4th in Division I A) (2001)
 Estonia 0 (27 in lower divisions) 1993 2019 19th place (3rd in Group B) (1998)
 New Zealand 0 (27 in lower divisions) 1987 2019 27th place (3rd in Group D) (1987)
 North Korea 0 (27 in lower divisions) 1974 2019 21st place (5th in Group C) (1990)
 Turkey 0 (26 in lower divisions) 1992 2019 32nd place (6th in Group C2) (1992)
 Iceland 0 (21 in lower divisions) 1999 2019 30th place (2nd in Division II A) (2014)
 Luxembourg 0 (20 in lower divisions) 1992 2019 31st place (5th in Group C2) (1992)
 Mexico 0 (20 in lower divisions) 2000 2019 35th place (4th in Division II B) (2008)
 Greece 0 (12 in lower divisions) 1992 2013 29th place (3rd in Group C2) (1992)
 Ireland 0 (10 in lower divisions) 2004 2013 40th place (6th in Division II B) (2008)
 Georgia 0 (7 in lower divisions) 2013 2019 38th place (4th in Division II B) (2019)
 Hong Kong 0 (7 in lower divisions) 1987 2019 28th place (4th in Group D) (1987)
 United Arab Emirates 0 (7 in lower divisions) 2010 2019 45th place (5th in Division III) (2014)
 Armenia 0 (5 in lower divisions) 2004 2010 43rd place (3rd in Division III) (2006)
 Bosnia & Herzegovina 0 (5 in lower divisions) 2008 2019 44th place (4th in Division III) (2016)
 Mongolia 0 (5 in lower divisions) 2007 2013 45th place (5th in Division III) (2007)
 Chinese Taipei 0 (3 in lower divisions) 2017 2019 44th place (4th in Division III) (2018)
 Kuwait 0 (2 in lower divisions) 2018 2019 50th place (4th in Division III Q) (2018)
 Turkmenistan 0 (2 in lower divisions) 2018 2019 43rd place (3rd in Division III) (2019)
 Kyrgyzstan 0 (1 in lower divisions) 2019 2019 52nd place (6th in Division III Q) (2019)[h]
 Thailand 0 (1 in lower divisions) 2019 2019 49th place (3rd in Division III Q) (2019)
Breakdown of successor teams
Team Number of appearances Debut Most recent Best result
 Czech Republic (1993–) 28 1993 2021 Champions (6 times)
 Czechoslovakia (1920–1992) 51 1920 1992 Champions (6 times)
Team Number of appearances Debut Most recent Best result
 Germany (1991–) 27 (3 in lower divisions) 1991 2021 4th place (2010, 2021)
West Germany (1951–1990) 24 (6 in lower divisions) 1952 1990 Runners-up (1953)
East Germany (1951–1990) 15 (14 in lower divisions) 1956 1990 5th place (1957, 1965, 1966, 1970)
Germany (1928–1939) 10 1928 1939 Runners-up (1930)
Team Number of appearances Debut Most recent Best result
 ROC[i] (2021–) 1 2021 2021 5th place (2021)
 Russia (1992–2019) 28 1992 2019 Champions (5 times)
 Soviet Union (1954–1991) 34 1954 1991 Champions (22 times)
Team Number of appearances Debut Most recent Best result
 Serbia (2007–) 0 (13 in lower divisions) 2007 2019 27th place (6th in Division I A) (2010)
 FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro (1995–2006) 0 (11 in lower divisions) 1995 2006 28th place (8th in Group C) (1995)
Yugoslavia (1951–1991) 0 (30 in lower divisions) 1951 1991 8th place (2nd in Group B) (1974)
Yugoslavia (1939) 1 1939 1939 13th place (1939)

Comprehensive team results by tournament[]

Results of host nations[]

Results of defending champions[]

Medal table[]

Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Canada 27 15 9 51
2  Russia 5 3 5 13
 Soviet Union 22 7 5 34
Total 27 10 10 47
3  Czech Republic 6 1 5 12
 Czechoslovakia 6 12 16 34
Total 12 13 21 46
4  Sweden 11 19 17 47
5  Finland 3 9 3 15
6  United States 2 9 9 20
7  Great Britain 1 2 2 5
8  Slovakia 1 2 1 4
9   Switzerland 0 3 8 11
10  Germany 0 1 2 3
West Germany 0 1 0 1
Total 0 2 2 4
11  Austria 0 0 2 2
Totals (11 countries) 84 84 84 252

Droughts[]

This section is a list of droughts associated with the participation of men's national ice hockey teams in the IIHF World Championships, including Final appearance and World Champion droughts up to and including the 2021 IIHF World Championship. Those teams which have not participated in any World Championship are listed by the year that they entered the IIHF tournaments.

Note:

  • Does not include droughts between 1940 and 1946, when no championships were held during World War II, nor were held during the Olympic years 1980, 1984, and 1988, and 2020 championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longest active Final droughts[]

Does not include two teams that made the 2021 Final: Canada and Finland.

Team Last appearance in the Final Subsequent Semifinal losses Drought
 United States Never (IIHF introduced a playoff system in 1992) 10 (1994, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021) 30 years
 Germany Never (IIHF introduced a playoff system in 1992) 2 (2010, 2021) 30 years
 Czech Republic 2010 4 (2011, 2012, 2014, 2019) 11 years
 Slovakia 2012 0 9 years
 ROC[i] 2015 3 (2016, 2017, 2019) 6 years
 Sweden 2018 0 3 years
  Switzerland 2018 0 3 years

Longest all-time Final droughts[]

     Active Final drought is highlighted

Team Prev. appearance in the Final Intervening Semifinal losses Next appearance in the Final Drought
 United States Never (IIHF introduced a playoff system in 1992) 10 (1994, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021) –––– 30 years
 Germany Never (IIHF introduced a playoff system in 1992) 2 (2010, 2021) –––– 30 years
  Switzerland Never (IIHF introduced a playoff system in 1992) 2 (1992, 1998) 2013 21 years
 Czech Republic 2010 4 (2011, 2012, 2014, 2019) –––– 11 years
 Slovakia 2002 2 (2003, 2004) 2012 9 years
 ROC[i] 1993 0 2002 8 years
 Canada 2009 0 2015 5 years
1997 0 2003
 Sweden 2006 2 (2009, 2010) 2011 4 years
1998 3 (1999, 2001, 2002) 2003
 Finland 2001 1 (2002) 2006 4 years

Longest active Champion droughts[]

Does not include the most-recent World Champion: Canada.

Team Last Champion Subsequent Final losses Drought
  Switzerland Never (debut in 1920) 2 (2013, 2018) 102 years
 Great Britain 1936 Never 85 years
 United States 1960 Never 61 years
 Slovakia 2002 1 (2012) 19 years
 Czech Republic 2010 0 11 years
 ROC[i] 2014 1 (2015) 7 years
 Sweden 2018 0 3 years
 Finland 2019 1 (2021) 2 years

Longest all-time Champion droughts[]

     Active Champion drought is highlighted

Team Prev. Champion Intervening Final losses Next Champion Drought
  Switzerland Never (debut in 1920) 2 (2013, 2018) –––– 102 years
 Great Britain 1936 Never –––– 85 years
 United States 1960 Never –––– 61 years
 Canada 1961 Never 1994 32 years
 Sweden 1962 Never 1987 24 years
 Slovakia 2002 1 (2012) –––– 19 years
 Finland 1995 4 (1998, 1999, 2001, 2007) 2011 15 years
 ROC[i] 1993 1 (2002) 2008 14 years
 Czech Republic 2010 0 –––– 11 years

Longest active appearance droughts[]

Does not include teams that have not made their first appearance. Does not include droughts when all lower division tournaments were cancelled for two years (2020–2021) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Team Last appearance WC Missed
 Armenia[j] 2010 (Division III B) 10
 Greece[k] 2013 (Division III) 7
 Ireland[l] 2013 (Division III) 7
 Mongolia[m] 2013 (Division III Q) 7
 Australia[n] 2019 (Division II A) 1
 New Zealand[n] 2019 (Division II B) 1
 North Korea[n] 2019 (Division II B) 1

Longest all-time appearance droughts[]

Only includes droughts begun after a team's first appearance and until the team ceased to exist. Updated to include participation for the 2019 World Championships.

     Active appearance drought is highlighted

Team Prev. appearance Next appearance WC Missed
 Lithuania[o] 1938 1993 (Group C) 44
 Latvia[o] 1939 1993 (Group C) 43
 Hong Kong 1987 (Group D) 2014 (Division III) 25
 South Africa 1966 (Group C) 1992 (Group C2) 22
 Japan 1936 1957 13
 Denmark 1949 1962 (Group B) 12
 Hungary 1939 1959 (Group B) 12
 Australia 1962 (Group B) 1974 (Group C) 11
 Romania 1947 1959 (Group B) 11
 Armenia 2010 (Division III B) –––– 10
 Greece 1999 (Group D) 2008 (Division III Q) 8
 North Korea 1993 (Group C) 2002 (Division II Q) 8
 Luxembourg 1992 (Group C2) 2000 (Group D) 7
 Canada[p] 1969 1977 7
 Great Britain 1953 (Group B) 1961 (Group B) 7
 Ireland 2013 (Division III) –––– 7
 Mongolia 2013 (Division III Q) –––– 7
 Bosnia & Herzegovina 2008 (Division III Q) 2015 (Division III) 6
 New Zealand 1989 (Group D) 1995 (Group C2) 5
 Netherlands 1955 (Group B) 1961 (Group C) 5
 Germany[c] 1939 1952 5
 France 1937 1950 5
Yugoslavia 1939 1951 (Group B) 4
 China 1974 (Group C) 1978 (Group C) 3
 Bulgaria 1963 (Group C) 1967 (Group C) 3
 Norway 1938 1949 3
 Sweden 1931 1935 3
 United Arab Emirates 2010 (Division III A) 2013 (Division III) 2
 South Korea 1982 (Group C) 1986 (Group C) 2
 Italy 1961 (Group B) 1964 (Group B) 2
1956 1959
1936 1939
1930 1933
 Poland 1952 1955 2
 United States 1952 1955 2
1924 1931
 Belgium 1952 (Group B) 1955 (Group B) 2
 Czechoslovakia 1949 1952 2
 Finland 1939 1949 2
  Switzerland 1930 1933 2
 Turkey 2000 (Group D) 2002 (Division II A) 1
1994 (Group C2) 1996 (Group D)
 FR Yugoslavia[q] 1998 (Group C) 2000 (Group C) 1
 Spain 1986 (Group C) 1989 (Group D) 1
1979 (Group C) 1982 (Group C)
 Soviet Union 1961 1963 1
East Germany[c] 1961 1963 1
1957 1959
 Austria 1959 (Group B) 1961 (Group B) 1
1957 1959 (Group B)
1953 (Group B) 1955 (Group B)
1949 1951 (Group B)
1938 1947
1936 1938

Teams with no IIHF World Championship appearances[]

26 out of 82 current IIHF members have not entered in any World Championship tournaments.

Country IIHF Member since Notes
 Algeria* 2019 Participated in the Arab Cup in 2008.
 Andorra* 1995 Hosted the 1997 IIHF World Championship Group D tournament in Canillo. Participated in the Development Cup in 2017 and 2018.
 Argentina* 1998 Participated in the now-defunct Pan American Tournament from 2014 to 2017 and the Amerigol LATAM Cup since 2018.
 Azerbaijan 1992 There is no national team, and Azerbaijan has not entered in any IIHF tournaments due to lack of ice rinks and ice hockey activities in the country.
 Brazil* 1984 Participated in the now-defunct Pan American Tournament from 2014 to 2017 and the Amerigol LATAM Cup since 2018.
 Chile** 1999 Participated in the now-defunct Pan American Tournament in 2017. Currently an IIHF affiliate member and therefore only to participate in the now-defunct IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship. Their last appearance was 2015. However, the IIHF cancelled the tournament in 2019 and can no longer govern inline hockey.[8]
 Colombia* 2019 Participated in the now-defunct Pan American Tournament from 2014 to 2017 and the Amerigol LATAM Cup since 2018.
 India 1989 Only participated in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia since 2009, except in 2010 and 2019, when unable to participate due to lack of equipment and money.
 Indonesia* 2016 Participated in the Asian Winter Games in 2017, the Southeast Asian Games in 2017 and 2019, and the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia since 2018.
 Iran* 2019 Iran was supposed to participate at the 2017 Asian Winter Games, but was disqualified due to a number of Iranian players were deemed ineligible in the regional games.[9]
 Jamaica* 2012 Jamaica was the first Caribbean nation to joined the IIHF on 18 May 2012.[10] Participated in the Amerigol LATAM Cup in 2019.
 Lebanon* 2019 Only played four exhibition games against other national teams in 2017.
 Liechtenstein* 2001 Only played two exhibition games, lost twice to Luxembourg in 2003 and 2007. Liechtenstein has not been active since then.
 Macau* 2005 Participated in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia since 2008 and the Asian Winter Games in 2007 and 2017.
 Malaysia 2006 Participated in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia since 2008, the Asian Winter Games since 2007, and the Southeast Asian Games in 2017 and 2019.
 Moldova* 2008 Unknown
 Morocco* 2010 Participated in the Arab Cup in 2008 and the Development Cup in 2017.
   Nepal* 2016 Unknown
 North Macedonia* 2001 Played two exhibition games against Bosnia & Herzegovina over the weekend. They won the first game 8–7 and lost the second game 7–6 in overtime a day later.[11] Participated in the Development Cup in 2018.
 Oman* 2014 Participated in the GCC Gulf Championship from 2010 to 2016, and the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia since 2015, except in 2016 and 2018.
 Philippines 2016 Participated in the Asian Winter Games in 2017, the Southeast Asian Games in 2017 and 2019, and the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia since 2018.
 Portugal* 1999 Participated in the Development Cup in 2017 and 2018.
 Qatar* 2012 Participated in the GCC Gulf Championship in 2014 and 2016, the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia Division I in 2016, and the Asian Winter Games in 2017.
 Singapore 1996 Participated in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia from 2008 to 2010, and since 2013, the Asian Winter Games in 2017, and the Southeast Asian Games in 2017 and 2019.
 Tunisia* 2021 Tunisia was the fourth African nation to join the IIHF on 22 September 2021.
 Uzbekistan* 2019 Represented the Uzbek SSR at the Winter Spartakiad from 1978 to 1986. Uzbekistan has not been active since the USSR being dissolved in 1991 and therefore has not played an official game against other national team so far.

* – IIHF associate member, ** – IIHF affiliate member

Notes[]

  1. ^ The modern format for the World Championship features a minimum of 40 teams: 16 teams in the main championship group (Top Division), 12 teams in Division I, and 12 teams in Division II. If there are more than 40 teams, the rest compete in Division III, and the newly created Division IV.[3]
  2. ^ a b Czechoslovakia participated 51 times in the World Championship prior to being divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. The IIHF considers the Czech Republic as the successor team of Czechoslovakia.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949, has been represented by the same governing body, Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB), since 1909. After World War II, DEB was re-admitted to the IIHF as West Germany. East Germany fielded a team of its own before joining with West Germany and DEB in the German reunification. Thus, the IIHF considers Germany and West Germany as one entity and officially attributes all international results of the DEB team since 1909 to Germany, including the results of West Germany from 1951–1990.
  4. ^ a b c d e The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1939) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1951–1991) participated 31 times in the World Championship under the name "Yugoslavia" prior to its breakup by the secession of many of its constituent republics in 1992. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia participated 7 times from 1995–2002 under the name "FR Yugoslavia", then changed its name to "Serbia and Montenegro" in 2003. The FR Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro are considered the predecessors of the current Serbia team by the IIHF, which first participated under that name in 2007. These national teams which resulted from the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia in 1992 (Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia), are considered distinct entities from the Yugoslavia team of 1939, 1951–1991.
  5. ^ a b The USSR participated 34 times in the World Championship prior to being dissolved in 1991. The 15 nations that were former Soviet Republics. 7 out of 15 former Soviet Republics now compete separately until Armenia (2004), Georgia (2013), Turkmenistan (2018) and Kyrgyzstan (2019). The IIHF considers Russia as the successor team of the USSR.
  6. ^ a b Chinese Taipei competed unofficially in the 1987 World Championship Group D tournament in Perth, Australia. Due to the political status of Taiwan and related issues with China, the games were considered as exhibition games and the results does not count towards the standings of the tournament.
  7. ^ The Philippines withdrew from the 2022 IIHF World Championship Division IV tournament and was originally supposed to make its debut in a newly created Division IV in 2020 and 2021. When all tournaments have been cancelled for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
  8. ^ In the 2019 World Championship Division III qualification tournament, after winning their first four games, Kyrgyzstan's wins were later voided and the results were changed to 5–0 forfeits, due to the use of an ineligible player. Kyrgyzstan was relegated to a new Division IV for 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Russia was suspended by the IIHF due to the state-sponsored doping scandal, but they were allowed to participate in the 2021 IIHF World Championship as the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee).
  10. ^ Armenia was suspended by the IIHF in April 2010, due to the use of ineligible players on their national team that participate in the 2010 World Championship Division III Group B. Thus, all their games were counted as forfeited 5–0 wins for the opposing teams and were not included in the final ranking of the tournament.
  11. ^ Greece is currently not active in any IIHF tournaments because they cannot fulfilled their minimum participation standards of having one operational indoor rink.
  12. ^ Ireland is currently not active in any IIHF tournaments because with the closure of the Dundalk Ice Dome and the country can no longer meet their minimum participation standards.
  13. ^ Mongolia has only participate in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, a regional tournament for lower-tier hockey nations in Asia since 2013. When the IIHF enacted new "minimum participation standards", stipulating that the country must have at least one functional, full-sized indoor rink.
  14. ^ a b c Australia, New Zealand and North Korea withdrew from the 2022 IIHF World Championship Division II A and B tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions-related issues.[5][6][7]
  15. ^ a b Participated as part of the USSR from 1954–1991.
  16. ^ Canada withdrew from IIHF tournaments from 1970–1976, and was later suspended after a dispute over allowing professional players at the tournament. Canada returned to the IIHF tournament in 1977.
  17. ^ The host Dutch government had suspended diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia, due to the Kosovo War, and did not allow the Yugoslavian team to participate in the 1999 tournament.

References[]

  1. ^ Steiss, Adam (2 March 2020). "IIHF cancels March tournaments". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  2. ^ Steiss, Adam (21 March 2020). "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. ^ "2014-2018 IIHF Statutes and Bylaws" (PDF). IIHF.com. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. ^ Merk, Martin (13 December 2021). "Debut for Philippines postponed". International Ice Hockey Federation.
  5. ^ Merk, Martin (22 January 2022). "Australian teams withdrawn". International Ice Hockey Federation.
  6. ^ Merk, Martin (2 February 2022). "New Zealand withdraws". International Ice Hockey Federation.
  7. ^ Merk, Martin (3 February 2022). "DPR Korea withdraws teams". International Ice Hockey Federation.
  8. ^ Merk, Martin (24 June 2019). "Statutes, Regulations amended". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  9. ^ Pavitt, Michael (19 February 2017). "Iranian ice hockey team disqualified from Sapporo 2017 over ineligible players". Inside the Games. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Welcome Jamaica & Qatar". IIHF.com. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Macedonia wins and loses in OT in Bosnia and Hercegovina". Eurohockey.com. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.

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