IIHF World Women's Championship

For the world men's championships, see Ice Hockey World Championships.

IIHF World Women's Championship

Most recent season or competition: 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1990 (1990), 1990 IIHF Women's World Championship
No. of teams	10 in Top Division 12 in Division I 12 in Division II 11 in Division III
Most recent champion(s)	Canada (13th title)
Most titles	Canada (13 titles)
Official website	IIHF.com

The IIHF World Women's Championship, officially the IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, is the premier international tournament in women's ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

The official world competition was first held in 1990, with four more championships held in the 90s. From 1989 to 1996, and in years that there was no world tournament held, there were European Championships and in 1995 and 1996 a Pacific Rim Championship. From the first Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Tournament in 1998 onward, the Olympic tournament was played instead of the IIHF Championships. Afterwards, the IIHF decided to hold Women's Championships in Olympic years, starting in 2014, but not at the top level. In September 2021, it was announced that the top division will also play during Olympic years and in August–September.

Canada and the United States have dominated the Championship since its inception. Canada won gold at the first eight consecutive tournaments and the United States has won gold at ten of the last fifteen tournaments. Both national teams placed either first or second every tournament until Canada's streak was broken at the 2019 Championship. Finland is the third most successful World Championship team, having won fourteen bronze medals and one silver medal – achieved after breaking the Canadian gold-silver streak. Four other teams have medalled at a Women's World Championship: Russia, winning three bronze medals; Czech Republic and Sweden, each winning two; and Switzerland, winning one.

Structure and qualification

The women's tournament began as an eight-team tournament featuring Canada, the US, the top five from the 1989 European Championships, and one Asian qualifier. The same formula was used for 1992, 1994, and 1997, but changed following the first Olympic women's ice hockey tournament at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. The top five teams from the Olympic tournament qualified for the 1999 World Championship, followed by the best three from final Olympic qualification rounds. Beginning in 1999, the championship became an annual tournament and the first divisional tournaments below the Top Division were played. Along with the creation of the lower divisions, a system of promotion and relegation was introduced, allowing for movement between all divisions.

After the 2017 tournament, it was announced that tournament would expand to 10 teams for 2019, having been played with 8 teams since the first tournament in 1990, except in 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2009, where 9 teams played. The 2004 edition featured 9 teams when Japan was promoted from Division II but no team was relegated from the Top Division in 2003, due to the cancellation of the top division tournament in China because of the outbreak of the SARS disease. Two teams were relegated from the Top Division in 2004, going back to 8 teams for 2005, but due to the success of the 9-team pool in 2004, IIHF decided to expand again to 9 teams for 2007. IIHF reverted to 8 teams after the 2009 tournament, and play continued in this format until the expansion of 2019.

Championship format

Initially, the tournament was an eight-team tournament divided into two groups, which played round-robin. The top two from each group played off for the gold, and beginning in 1999 the bottom two played off to determine placement and relegation. In 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2009 the tournament was played with nine nations, using three groups of three playing round-robin. In this format first place from each group continued on to play for gold, second place from each group played for placement and an opportunity to still play for bronze, and the third place teams played off to determine relegation. Beginning in 2011, the tournament changed the format to encourage more equal games. The top four seed nations played in Group A, where the top two teams got a bye to the semifinals, the bottom two go to the quarter-finals to face the top two finishers from Group B. The bottom two from Group B then play each other in a best of three to determine relegation. Beginning in 2019 the tournament was expanded to ten teams, bringing with it a new format. The ten teams are divided into two groups of five and play round-robin. In this format, the five teams in Group A and the top three teams from Group B move into the Quarterfinals, seeded A1vsB3, A2vsB2, A3vsB1, and A4vsA5. The bottom two from Group B now play only one 9th place game and both get relegated. As of 2021, the four teams that lose their quarterfinal games enter into a knockout tournament to determine 5th place with the winner earning a spot in Group A for the next tournament, though the 2024 tournament will not include these games. From 2025 on, the ten teams will be put into two groups of five, with the top four teams advancing to the knockout stage while the last-placed teams will play out the relegated team.

Lower divisions

Outside of the Top Division tournament, participating nations play in groups of no more than six teams. As of 2022, there are six group tiers across three divisions below the Top Division.

Introduced in 1999 as a Division I tournament and Division I qualification tournament, the number of lower divisions rapidly expanded as more national teams gained admittance. By 2003 the lower tiers were formalized into tiered groups of six teams each, called Division I, Division II, and Division III, with promotion for the top team in each and relegation for the bottom team. By 2009 it had grown up to Division V, but in 2012 the titles were changed to match the men's tournaments; Division I became IA, Division II became IB, Division III became IIA, Division IV became IIB, and Division V became IIB Qualification. Promotion and relegation remained the same after the title changes.

Rules and eligibility

See also: Ice hockey rules

The rules of play are essentially the same as used for the men's tournaments, with one key difference: body checking is not permitted in the women's tournaments. Body checking was allowed at the first championship in 1990 but has been assessed as a minor penalty at all subsequent tournaments.

In order to be eligible to compete in IIHF events, players must be under the jurisdiction of the governing body they are representing and must be a citizen of that country. Additionally, the player must be eighteen years old, or sixteen with a medical waiver, in the season the tournament takes place.

Tournaments

Year		Host city/cities		Final				Third place match
				Champions	Score	Runners-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place
1990		Ottawa		Canada	5–2	United States		Finland	6–3	Sweden
1992		Tampere		Canada	8–0	United States		Finland	5–4	Sweden
1994		Lake Placid		Canada	6–3	United States		Finland	8–1	China
1997		Kitchener		Canada	4–3 (OT)	United States		Finland	3–0	China
1998		Competition not held during 1998 Olympics
1999		Espoo/Vantaa		Canada	3–1	United States		Finland	8–2	Sweden
2000		Mississauga		Canada	3–2 (OT)	United States		Finland	7–1	Sweden
2001		Minneapolis		Canada	3–2	United States		Russia	2–1	Finland
2002		Competition not held during 2002 Olympics
2003		Competition at top level was cancelled due to SARS outbreak in China
2004		Halifax/Dartmouth		Canada	2–0	United States		Finland	3–2	Sweden
2005		Linköping/Norrköping		United States	1–0 (SO)	Canada		Sweden	5–2	Finland
2006		Competition not held during 2006 Olympics
2007		Winnipeg/Selkirk		Canada	5–1	United States		Sweden	1–0	Finland
2008		Harbin		United States	4–3	Canada		Finland	4–1	Switzerland
2009		Hämeenlinna		United States	4–1	Canada		Finland	4–1	Sweden
2010		Competition not held during 2010 Olympics
2011		Zürich/Winterthur		United States	3–2 (OT)	Canada		Finland	3–2 (OT)	Russia
2012		Burlington		Canada	5–4 (OT)	United States		Switzerland	6–2	Finland
2013		Ottawa		United States	3–2	Canada		Russia	2–0	Finland
2014		Competition not held at top level during 2014 Olympics
2015		Malmö		United States	7–5	Canada		Finland	4–1	Russia
2016		Kamloops		United States	1–0 (OT)	Canada		Russia	1–0 (SO)	Finland
2017		Plymouth		United States	3–2 (OT)	Canada		Finland	8–0	Germany
2018		Competition not held at top level during 2018 Olympics
2019		Espoo		United States	2–1 (SO)	Finland		Canada	7–0	Russia
2020		Competition at top level, Division I, and Division II Group A was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021		Calgary		Canada	3–2 (OT)	United States		Finland	3–1	Switzerland
2022		Herning/Frederikshavn		Canada	2–1	United States		Czechia	4–2	Switzerland
2023		Brampton		United States	6–3	Canada		Czechia	3–2	Switzerland
2024		Utica, New York		Canada	6–5 (OT)	United States		Finland	3–2 (SO)	Czechia
2025		České Budějovice
2026		TBD
2027
2028
2029
2030		TBD

Participation

Country	Tournaments	First	Last	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Best finish (first/last)
Canada	23	1990	2024	13	9	1	23	1st (1990/2024)
United States	23	1990	2024	10	13	0	23	1st (2005/2023)
Finland	23	1990	2024	0	1	14	15	2nd (2019)
Russia	17	1997	2021	0	0	3	3	3rd (2001/2016)
Czechia	8	2013	2024	0	0	2	2	3rd (2022/2023)
Sweden	22	1990	2024	0	0	2	2	3rd (2005/2007)
Switzerland	20	1990	2024	0	0	1	1	3rd (2012)
China	12	1992	2024	0	0	0	0	4th (1994/1997)
Germany	18	1990	2024	0	0	0	0	4th (2017)
Japan	12	1990	2024	0	0	0	0	5th (2022)
Norway	4	1990	1997	0	0	0	0	6th (1990/1994)
Kazakhstan	5	2001	2011	0	0	0	0	6th (2009)
Denmark	4	1992	2024	0	0	0	0	7th (1992)
Slovakia	2	2011	2012	0	0	0	0	7th (2011)
Hungary	3	2021	2023	0	0	0	0	8th (2022)
France	2	2019	2023	0	0	0	0	10th (2019/2023)

Awards

Main article: List of IIHF Women's World Championship Directorate award winners

At most IIHF events, the tournament directorate awards the Best Forward, Best Defenceman, Best Goalkeeper and Most Valuable Player (MVP). At the Women's World Championship, these honours have been awarded in some combination since the first tournament, with the exception of 1997 and the cancelled tournaments in 2003 and 2020.

All-time record

as of end of 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship

R	Team	App	C	F	3	4	GP	W	OTW	SOW	T	SOL	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	United States	23	10	13	0	0	125	99	4	2	1	3	6	10	794	178	+616	282
2	Canada	23	13	9	1	0	125	96	6	3	0	1	4	15	727	165	+562	269
3	Finland	23	0	1	14	6	131	62	5	3	2	3	2	54	445	339	+106	184
4	Sweden	22	0	0	2	6	111	47	3	5	4	5	3	44	335	350	–15	150
5	Switzerland	20	0	0	1	4	105	27	4	4	1	4	2	63	205	456	–251	95
6	West Germany (1990) / Germany (1992–)	18	0	0	0	1	90	29	1	2	2	1	6	49	162	364	–202	93
7	Russia (1997–2019) / ROC (2021)	17	0	0	3	3	89	29	1	2	2	2	3	50	179	387	–208	89
8	Czechia	8	0	0	2	1	48	22	2	1	0	3	1	19	117	122	–5	76
9	Japan	12	0	0	0	0	62	11	2	2	0	3	2	42	93	268	–175	45
10	China	12	0	0	0	2	55	16	0	2	4	2	0	31	128	249	–121	44
11	Hungary	3	0	0	0	0	14	3	0	0	0	1	1	9	25	55	–30	11
12	Norway	4	0	0	0	0	20	4	0	0	1	0	0	15	42	123	–81	9
13	Slovakia	2	0	0	0	0	10	2	0	1	0	1	0	6	12	27	–15	9
14	Denmark	4	0	0	0	0	17	1	1	1	0	0	0	14	20	64	–44	7
15	Kazakhstan	5	0	0	0	0	23	0	0	2	1	1	0	19	19	126	–107	6
16	France	2	0	0	0	0	9	0	1	0	0	0	0	8	12	42	–30	2

Lower division tournaments

Year	Group B		Qualification for Group B
	Host city/cities	Winner	Host city/cities	Winner
1999	Colmar, France	Japan	Székesfehérvár, Hungary; Pyongyang, North Korea; Almaty, Kazakhstan	Italy Kazakhstan
2000	Riga and Liepāja, Latvia	Kazakhstan	Dunaújváros and Székesfehérvár, Hungary	North Korea
	Division I		Division II		Division III		Division IV		Division V
	Host city	Winner	Host city/cities	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner
2001	Briançon, France	Switzerland	Qualification: Bucharest, Romania; Maribor, Slovenia	Netherlands Slovakia
2003	Ventspils, Latvia	Japan	Lecco, Italy	Norway	Maribor, Slovenia	Australia
2004	Ventspils, Latvia	Kazakhstan	Sterzing, Italy	Denmark	Maribor, Slovenia	Austria
2005	Romanshorn, Switzerland	Switzerland	Asiago, Italy	Norway	Cape Town, South Africa	Slovenia	Dunedin, New Zealand	South Korea
2007	Nikkō, Japan	Japan	Pyongyang, North Korea	Slovakia	Sheffield, United Kingdom	Australia	Miercurea Ciuc, Romania	Croatia
2008	Ventspils, Latvia	Kazakhstan	Vierumäki, Finland	Austria	Miskolc, Hungary	Great Britain	Miercurea Ciuc, Romania	Iceland
2009	Graz, Austria	Slovakia	Torre Pellice, Italy	Latvia
2011	Ravensburg, Germany	Germany	Caen, France	Czech Republic	Newcastle, Australia	Netherlands	Reykjavík, Iceland	New Zealand	Sofia, Bulgaria	Poland
	Division I A		Division I B		Division II A		Division II B		Division II B Qualification
	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner
2012	Ventspils, Latvia	Czech Republic	Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom	Denmark	Maribor, Slovenia	North Korea	Seoul, South Korea	Poland
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Japan	Strasbourg, France	France	Auckland, New Zealand	Hungary	Puigcerdà, Spain	South Korea	İzmir, Turkey	Turkey
2014	Přerov, Czech Republic	Czech Republic	Ventspils, Latvia	Latvia	Dumfries, United Kingdom	Italy	Jaca, Spain	Croatia	Mexico City, Mexico	Mexico
2015	Rouen, France	Czech Republic	Beijing, China	Slovakia	Asiago, Italy	Kazakhstan	Reykjavík, Iceland	Slovenia	Kowloon, Hong Kong	Turkey
2016	Aalborg, Denmark	Germany	Asiago, Italy	Hungary	Bled, Slovenia	Poland	Jaca, Spain	Australia	Sofia, Bulgaria	Romania
2017	Graz, Austria	Japan	Katowice, Poland	Slovakia	Gangneung, South Korea	South Korea	Akureyri, Iceland	Mexico	Taipei, Taiwan	Chinese Taipei
2018	Vaujany, France	France	Asiago, Italy	Italy	Maribor, Slovenia	Netherlands	Valdemoro, Spain	Spain	Sofia, Bulgaria	Croatia
2019	Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	Beijing, China	Netherlands	Dumfries, United Kingdom	Slovenia	Brașov, Romania	Chinese Taipei	Cape Town, South Africa	Ukraine
	Division I A		Division I B		Division II A		Division II B		Division III
	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner
2020	Angers, France	[a]	Katowice, Poland	[a]	Jaca, Spain	[a]	Akureyri, Iceland	Australia	Sofia, Bulgaria	South Africa
2021	Angers, France	[a]	Beijing, China	[a]	Jaca, Spain	[a]	Zagreb, Croatia	[a]	Kaunas, Lithuania	[a]
	Division I A		Division I B		Division II A		Division II B		Division III A		Division III B
	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner	Host city	Winner
2022	Angers, France	France	Katowice, Poland	China	Jaca, Spain	Great Britain	Zagreb, Croatia	Iceland	Sofia, Bulgaria	Belgium	Belgrade, Serbia	Estonia
2023	Shenzhen, China	China	Suwon, South Korea	South Korea	Mexico City, Mexico	Latvia	Cape Town, South Africa	Belgium	Brașov, Romania	Hong Kong	Tnuvot, Israel	Serbia
2024	Klagenfurt, Austria		Riga, Latvia	Slovakia	Canillo, Andorra	Kazakhstan	Istanbul, Turkey	North Korea	Zagreb, Croatia	Ukraine	Kohtla-Järve, Estonia	Thailand

Notes:

• ^a Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

See also

• 4 Nations Cup
• Ice hockey at the Olympic Games
• Canada–United States women's national ice hockey rivalry

Works cited

• Müller, Stephan (2005). International Ice Hockey Encyclopaedia 1904–2005. Norderstedt: Books on Demand GmbH. ISBN 9783833441899.
• Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports. pp. 487–9. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9.
• Podnieks, Andrew (2010). IIHF Media Guide & Record Book 2011. Toronto: Moydart Press. pp. 26–7, 227–235. ISBN 978-0986796401.

External links

• Women's Hockey Web
• Women's World Championships at EuroHockey.com
• Championnats du monde féminins at HockeyArchives.info (in French)