IIHF Women's World Championship

The IIHF Women's World Championship is the biggest international tournament for women's ice hockey. It is organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The first official world competition happened in 1990, and many more were held during the 1990s. In some years, especially when there were no world tournaments, there were also European Championships and a Pacific Rim Championship. When the Winter Olympics started including women's ice hockey in 1998, the Olympic tournament took place instead of the IIHF Championships. Later, the IIHF decided to hold Women's Championships during Olympic years too, but not at the top level. Since 2022, the top division of the Women's Championship happens during Olympic years.

Canada and the United States have been the strongest teams in this championship. Canada won the first eight tournaments in a row, and the United States has won gold in eleven of the last sixteen tournaments. Both teams always placed either first or second until 2019, when Finland broke Canada's winning streak. Finland is the third most successful team, with fifteen bronze medals and one silver medal. Other teams that have won medals include Russia with three bronze medals, Czech Republic and Sweden with two each, and Switzerland with one.

Structure and qualification

The women's ice hockey world tournament started in 1990 with eight teams: Canada, the US, the top five from the European Championships in 1989, and one team from Asia. This setup stayed the same for several years until changes began after the first Olympic women's ice hockey event in 1998. Teams qualifying from the Olympics then took part in the World Championship.

Since 1999, the championship has been held every year. Lower divisions were also created, allowing teams to move up or down based on their performance. The number of teams in the top group has changed over time. It grew to ten teams in 2019 after being eight teams for many years.

Championship format

At first, the tournament had eight teams split into two groups. The top teams from each group played for the gold medal, while others played to decide their final positions. Later, when there were nine teams, they played in three groups, and the format changed again to make games more balanced.

Starting in 2011, the format was adjusted so that stronger teams had easier paths while weaker teams still had chances to advance. By 2019, with ten teams, the tournament used two groups of five. The top teams from these groups moved to the quarterfinals, and the bottom teams faced relegation. Future changes plan to move the tournament to November each year starting in 2026.

Lower divisions

Below the top division, teams compete in groups of up to six. These divisions started in 1999 and have expanded over time. By 2022, there were six tiers below the top division, with teams moving up or down based on their performance each year.

Rules and eligibility

See also: Ice hockey rules

The rules for the women's ice hockey tournaments are almost the same as the rules for the men's tournaments, but there is one big difference: players are not allowed to body check in the women's tournaments. Body checking was allowed in the first championship in 1990, but after that, it became a minor penalty in every tournament.

To play in IIHF events, players must be under the governing body they represent and must be a citizen of that country. Players also need to be eighteen years old, or sixteen with a special medical permission, during the tournament season.

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 Winter 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 Winter 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 Winter 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 Winter 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 Winter 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		United States	4–3 (OT)	Canada		Finland	4–3 (OT)	Czechia
2026		Herning/Esbjerg
2027		Quebec City
2028
2029
2030		TBD

Participation

The IIHF Women's World Championship brings together teams from around the world to compete in ice hockey. The first official tournament took place in 1990, and many more followed throughout the 1990s.

Country	Tournaments	First	Last	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Best finish (first/last)
Canada	24	1990	2025	13	10	1	24	1st (1990/2024)
United States	24	1990	2025	11	13	0	24	1st (2005/2025)
Finland	24	1990	2025	0	1	15	16	2nd (2019)
Russia	17	1997	2021	0	0	3	3	3rd (2001/2016)
Czechia	9	2013	2025	0	0	2	2	3rd (2022/2023)
Sweden	23	1990	2025	0	0	2	2	3rd (2005/2007)
Switzerland	21	1990	2025	0	0	1	1	3rd (2012)
China	12	1992	2024	0	0	0	0	4th (1994/1997)
Germany	19	1990	2025	0	0	0	0	4th (2017)
Japan	13	1990	2025	0	0	0	0	5th (2022)
Norway	5	1990	2025	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	4	2021	2025	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

In most IIHF events, the tournament directors give out awards for the best forward, best defenseman, best goalkeeper, and the most valuable player, or MVP. At the Women's World Championship, these awards have been given out in different combinations since the first tournament, except in 1997 and the tournaments that were cancelled in 2003 and 2020.

All-time record

as of end of 2025 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	24	11	13	0	0	132	105	5	2	1	3	6	10	821	184	+637	302
2	Canada	24	13	10	1	0	132	101	6	3	0	1	5	16	764	174	+590	285
3	Finland	24	0	1	15	6	138	65	6	3	2	3	2	57	460	367	+93	195
4	Sweden	23	0	0	2	6	117	51	3	5	4	5	3	46	356	358	–2	162
5	West Germany (1990) /  Germany (1992–)	19	0	0	0	1	95	31	1	2	2	1	6	52	173	376	–203	99
6	Switzerland	21	0	0	1	4	111	28	4	4	1	4	2	68	209	479	–270	98
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	9	0	0	2	2	55	24	2	1	0	3	2	23	134	143	–9	83
9	Japan	13	0	0	0	0	67	14	2	2	0	3	2	44	102	281	–179	54
10	China	12	0	0	0	2	55	16	0	2	4	2	0	31	128	249	–121	44
11	Norway	5	0	0	0	0	24	5	0	0	1	0	0	18	49	141	–92	12
12	Hungary	4	0	0	0	0	18	3	0	0	0	1	1	13	26	66	–40	11
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

Notes:

• Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

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 & 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	Norway	Riga, Latvia	Slovakia	Canillo, Andorra	Kazakhstan	Istanbul, Turkey	North Korea	Zagreb, Croatia	Ukraine	Kohtla-Järve, Estonia	Thailand
2025	Shenzhen, China	Austria	Dumfries, Great Britain	Italy	Bytom, Poland	Spain	Dunedin, New Zealand	Australia	Belgrade, Serbia	Lithuania	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bulgaria
2026	Budapest, Hungary	France	Puigcerdà, Spain	Netherlands	Bled, Slovenia	Poland	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Zagreb, Croatia	Romania	Kohtla-Järve, Estonia	Estonia

Attendance

The most people ever to watch a championship was 122,331 at the 2025 edition in České Budějovice, Czech Republic. The most people to watch a single game was 5,962 at the 2007 edition in Winnipeg and Selkirk, Canada.

† = team won the championship as host

List of the top 10 most attended tournaments

Year	Host country	Total attendance	Number of games	Attendance per game
2025	Czech Republic	122,331	29	4,218
2007	Canada †	119,231	20	5,962
2013	Canada	98,155	21	4,674
2004	Canada †	89,461	20	4,473
2024	United States	68,112	29	2,349
1997	Canada †	60,418	20	3,021
2023	Canada	59,372	31	1,915
2000	Canada †	57,444	20	2,872
2019	Finland	51,247	29	1,767
2022	Denmark	43,160	31	1,393