2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships

The 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships were the 86th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams participated in several levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for division placements in the 2024 competition.^[1]

As in 2022, teams from Russia and Belarus were not allowed to enter, as they were suspended by the IIHF due to the countries' invasion of Ukraine.^[2]

Banned teams

Russia

Belarus

Championship (Top Division)

The tournament was held in Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia from 12 to 28 May 2023.^[3]

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	United States	7	6	1	0	0	34	8	+26	20	Quarterfinals
2	Sweden	7	5	1	1	0	26	7	+19	18
3	Finland (H)	7	5	0	1	1	28	15	+13	16
4	Germany	7	4	0	0	3	27	16	+11	12
5	Denmark	7	2	1	0	4	19	26	−7	8	Qualification for 2024 IIHF World Championship
6	France	7	0	1	2	4	10	31	−21	4
7	Austria	7	0	1	1	5	11	27	−16	3^[a]
8	Hungary	7	0	1	1	5	12	37	−25	3^[a]	Relegation to 2024 Division I A

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best-ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament
(H) Host
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Austria 4–3 Hungary

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Switzerland	7	6	0	1	0	29	10	+19	19	Quarterfinals
2	Canada	7	4	1	1	1	25	11	+14	15
3	Latvia (H)	7	3	2	0	2	21	17	+4	13^[a]
4	Czechia	7	4	0	1	2	22	16	+6	13^[a]
5	Slovakia	7	3	0	2	2	15	15	0	11	Qualification for 2024 IIHF World Championship
6	Kazakhstan	7	1	2	0	4	14	31	−17	7
7	Norway	7	1	1	1	4	9	17	−8	6
8	Slovenia	7	0	0	0	7	9	27	−18	0	Relegation to 2024 Division I A

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best-ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament
(H) Host
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Czechia 3–4 (OT) Latvia

Playoff round

There was a re-seeding after the quarter-finals.^[4] If Finland and Latvia were to play in the quarter-finals, there would have been no cross-over for the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

25 May

1A United States	3
		27 May
4B Czechia	0
		1 United States	3
25 May
		8 Germany (OT)	4
1B Switzerland	1
				28 May
4A Germany	3
				8 Germany	2
25 May
				4 Canada	5
2A Sweden	1
		27 May
3B Latvia	3
		4 Canada	4
25 May
		6 Latvia	2	Third place
2B Canada	4
				28 May
3A Finland	1
				1 United States	3

				6 Latvia (OT)	4

Final standings

Teams finishing fifth in the preliminary round were ranked ninth and tenth, teams finishing sixth are ranked 11th and 12th, and so on.^[5]

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	B	Canada	10	7	1	1	1	38	16	+22	24	Champions
2	A	Germany	10	5	1	0	4	36	25	+11	17	Runners-up
3	B	Latvia (H)	10	4	3	0	3	30	25	+5	18	Third place
4	A	United States	10	7	1	2	0	43	16	+27	25	Fourth place

5	B	Switzerland	8	6	0	1	1	30	13	+17	19	Eliminated in Quarter-finals
6	A	Sweden	8	5	1	1	1	27	10	+17	18
7	A	Finland (H)	8	5	0	1	2	29	19	+10	16
8	B	Czechia	8	4	0	1	3	22	19	+3	13

9	B	Slovakia	7	3	0	2	2	15	15	0	11	Eliminated in Group stage
10	A	Denmark	7	2	1	0	4	19	26	−7	8
11	B	Kazakhstan	7	1	2	0	4	14	31	−17	7
12	A	France	7	0	1	2	4	10	31	−21	4
13	B	Norway	7	1	1	1	4	9	17	−8	6
14	A	Austria	7	0	1	1	5	11	27	−16	3

15	A	Hungary	7	0	1	1	5	12	37	−25	3	Relegated to 2024 IIHF World Championship Division I
16	B	Slovenia	7	0	0	0	7	9	27	−18	0	Relegated to 2024 IIHF World Championship Division I

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) position in the group; 2) number of points; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Division I

Group A

The tournament was held in Nottingham, England from 29 April to 5 May 2023.^[3]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Great Britain (H)	5	4	1	0	0	24	7	+17	14	Promoted to the 2024 Top Division
2	Poland	5	4	0	1	0	28	9	+19	13	Promoted to the 2024 Top Division
3	Italy	5	3	0	0	2	23	16	+7	9
4	South Korea	5	2	0	0	3	8	20	−12	6
5	Romania	5	1	0	0	4	9	26	−17	3
6	Lithuania	5	0	0	0	5	7	21	−14	0	Relegated to the 2024 Division I B

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Group B

The tournament was held in Tallinn, Estonia from 23 to 29 April 2023.^[3]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Japan	5	5	0	0	0	29	10	+19	15	Promoted to the 2024 Division I A
2	Ukraine	5	3	0	1	1	35	16	+19	10
3	China	5	2	1	0	2	19	18	+1	8
4	Estonia (H)	5	1	1	0	3	13	18	−5	5
5	Netherlands	5	1	0	1	3	14	31	−17	4
6	Serbia	5	0	1	1	3	7	24	−17	3	Relegated to the 2024 Division II A

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Division II

Group A

The tournament was held in Madrid, Spain from 16 to 22 April 2023.^[3] Georgia was later disqualified by the IIHF and relegated.^[why?]^[6]^[7]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Spain (H)	5	5	0	30	9	+21	15	Promoted to the 2024 Division I B
2	Georgia	5	4	1	20	8	+12	12	Relegated to the 2024 Division II B
3	Croatia	5	3	2	26	18	+8	9
4	Australia	5	1	4	16	22	−6	3^[a]
5	Israel	5	1	4	14	37	−23	3^[a]
6	Iceland	5	1	4	14	26	−12	3^[a]

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c Australia 3 points, +4 GD; Israel 3 points, −2 GD; Iceland 3 points, −2 GD; Israel 7–3 Iceland

Group B

The tournament was held in Istanbul, Turkey from 17 to 23 April 2023.^[3]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	United Arab Emirates	5	5	0	35	10	+25	15	Promoted to the 2024 Division II A
2	Belgium	5	4	1	33	10	+23	12
3	Bulgaria	5	3	2	19	20	−1	9
4	New Zealand	5	2	3	15	22	−7	6
5	Turkey (H)	5	1	4	12	26	−14	3
6	Mexico	5	0	5	10	36	−26	0	Relegated to the 2024 Division III A

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Division III

Group A

The tournament was held in Cape Town, South Africa from 17 to 23 April 2023.^[3]^[8]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Chinese Taipei	4	4	0	30	4	+26	12	Promoted to the 2024 Division II B
2	Turkmenistan	4	2	2	17	16	+1	6^[a]
3	South Africa (H)	4	2	2	16	17	−1	6^[a]
4	Thailand	4	2	2	20	21	−1	6^[a]
5	Luxembourg	4	0	4	3	28	−25	0
6	North Korea^[b]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegated to the 2024 Division III B

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c Turkmenistan 3 points, 0 GD, 12 GS; South Africa 3 points, 0 GD, 11 GS; Thailand 3 points, 0 GD, 8 GS
^ North Korea withdrew before the tournament.

Group B

The tournament was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 27 February to 5 March 2023.^[3]^[8]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Kyrgyzstan	5	5	0	0	0	76	5	+71	15	Promoted to the 2024 Division III A
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina (H)	5	3	1	0	1	39	20	+19	11
3	Hong Kong	5	2	1	1	1	41	26	+15	9
4	Singapore	5	2	0	1	2	31	31	0	7
5	Iran	5	1	0	0	4	19	53	−34	3
6	Malaysia	5	0	0	0	5	6	77	−71	0	Relegated to the 2024 Division IV

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Division IV

The tournament was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 23 to 26 March 2023.^[3]^[8]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Philippines	3	2	1	0	0	35	6	+29	8	Promoted to the 2024 Division III B
2	Mongolia (H)	3	2	0	1	0	19	8	+11	7
3	Kuwait	3	1	0	0	2	4	24	−20	3
4	Indonesia	3	0	0	0	3	3	23	−20	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host