Tournaments for 2021 assigned
by Martin Merk|22 JUN 2020
After the cancellation this year, the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship will be hosted in Halifax and Truro, Canada.
photo: Jeff Vinnick
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The 2020 IIHF Extra-Ordinary Congress has assigned the tournaments of the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program and the qualification for the 2020 Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament.

The delegates also confirmed the dates of the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk and Riga to 21 May to 6 June 2021. Find out more on the new website 2021.iihfworlds.com, which is also available in Russian and Latvian language.

The 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship will take place in Halifax and Truro in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia where it was planned last spring before the cancellation. The proposed dates are 7-17 April 2021.

Similarly, the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship will take place in Plymouth and Ann Arbor in Michigan, United States, at the same venues that were scheduled for this year before the cancellation due to the pandemic. The proposed dates are 15-25 April 2021.

The 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship will be hosted by Sweden in the cities of Linkoping and Mjolby from 5 to 12 January 2021.

In the lower divisions most of the men’s, women’s and under-18 tournaments scheduled in the spring of 2020 will have the same hosts in 2021 including the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group B in Katowice, Poland.

One exception to this are the two tournaments that will be used as Olympic test event. The Division II Group A in the men’s category and the Division I Group B in the women’s category will be held at the two Olympic arenas for Beijing 2022 in the upcoming spring.

Next season will also see Singapore joining the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program in the men’s senior category, Estonia will return to and Bosnia & Herzegovina join the women’s senior category and Latvia the women’s under-18 category.

Congress also approved the qualification for Beijing 2022. The Men’s Olympic Qualification has already started and the Final Olympic Qualification in Latvia, Norway and Slovakia was moved to 26-29 August 2021.

The Women’s Olympic Qualification will start in the upcoming season. A record number of 31 countries entered a team to Olympic Winter Games and Qualification. The top-6 teams of the 2020 IIHF Women’s World Ranking – USA, Canada, Finland, Russia, Switzerland and Japan – as well as host China are automatically qualified for the 10-team event. The remaining three teams will be determined in the Olympic Qualification in three stages starting in December.

The hosts were determined according to the principle of the right of first refusal with the top-seeded teams getting the rights to host. The Final Olympic Qualification will be held same as the men’s tournaments from 26 to 29 August 2021 and the top-ranked non-qualified teams made use of their right to host. The Czech Republic will hold their tournament in Pribram, Germany will host in Fussen and Sweden will host its group in a city to be determined.

The Congress also approved the new format of the IIHF Continental Cup. Click here to find the clubs, groups and dates.

Find below all tournaments, teams and venues. The proposed dates are being discussed with the teams and will be published during the upcoming days under Tournament List on IIHF.com. The schedules and tournament pages will be published during autumn.

Men’s Senior Category

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk, Belarus & Riga, Latvia
Group A in Minsk: Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Belarus, Great Britain.
Group B in Riga: Canada, Finland, USA, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Italy, Kazakhstan.

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Participants: France, Austria, Korea, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group B in Katowice, Poland
Participants: Lithuania, Poland, Japan, Estonia, Ukraine, Serbia

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A in Beijing, China
Participants: Netherlands, Croatia, Australia, Spain, China, Israel

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group B in Reykjavik, Iceland
Participants: Belgium, Iceland, New Zealand, Georgia, Mexico, Bulgaria

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III Group A in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg
Participants: DPR Korea, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Luxembourg, Chinese Taipei, United Arab Emirates

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III Group B in Cape Town, South Africa
Participants: South Africa, Hong Kong (China), Thailand, Bosnia & Herzegovina

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division IV in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Participants: Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore

Men’s U20 Category

2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton & Red Deer, Canada
Group A in Edmonton: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany
Group B in Red Deer: Russia, Sweden, USA, Czech Republic, Austria

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division I Group A in Horsholm, Denmark
Participants: Kazakhstan, Latvia, Belarus, Norway, Denmark, Hungary

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division I Group B in Tallinn, Estonia
Participants: Slovenia, France, Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Japan

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II Group A in Brasov, Romania
Participants: Italy, Great Britain, Lithuania, Romania, Spain, Korea

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II Group B in Belgrade, Serbia
Participants: Serbia, Netherlands, China, Croatia, Belgium, Iceland

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III in Mexico City, Mexico
Group A: Israel, Australia, Turkey, Mexico
Group B: Bulgaria, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, South Africa

Men’s U18 Category

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship in Plymouth & Ann Arbor, USA
Group A in Ann Arbor: Sweden, Canada, Belarus, Latvia, Switzerland
Group B in Plymouth: Russia, USA, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I Group A in Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia
Participants: Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Denmark, Norway, France, Japan

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I Group B in Asiago, Italy
Participants: Ukraine, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Poland

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group A in Tallinn, Estonia
Participants: Great Britain, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Korea, Serbia

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group B in Sofia, Bulgaria
Participants: Spain, China, Netherlands, Croatia, Australia, Bulgaria

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division III Group A in Istanbul, Turkey
Participants: Belgium, Israel, Iceland, Turkey, Mexico, Chinese Taipei

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division III Group B in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg
Participants: New Zealand, Hong Kong (China), South Africa, Luxembourg, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan

Women’s Senior Category

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Halifax & Truro, Canada
Group A in Halifax: USA, Canada, Finland, Russia, Switzerland
Group B in Truro: Japan, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Hungary

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Division I Group A in Angers, France
Participants: Sweden, France, Norway, Austria, Slovakia, Netherlands

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Division I Group B in Beijing, China
Participants: Italy, Korea, Poland, China, Kazakhstan, Slovenia

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Division II Group A in Jaca, Spain
Participants: Latvia, Great Britain, Spain, Mexico, DPR Korea, Chinese Taipei

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Division II Group B in Zagreb, Croatia
Participants: Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Turkey, Croatia, South Africa

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Division III in Kaunas, Lithuania
Participants: Ukraine, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Hong Kong (China), Estonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Women’s U18 Category

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Linkoping & Mjolby, Sweden
Group A in Mjolby: USA, Canada, Russia, Finland
Group B in Linkoping: Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group A in Gyor, Hungary
Participants: Slovakia, Japan, Hungary, France, Italy, Norway

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B in Radenthein, Austria
Participants: Denmark, Austria, China, Korea, Poland, Chinese Taipei

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division II Group A in Dumfries, Great Britain
Participants: Great Britain, Netherlands, Australia, Spain

2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division II Group B in Kocaeli, Turkey
Participants: Kazakhstan, Turkey, Mexico, New Zealand, Latvia

Men’s Olympic Qualification

Final Olympic Qualification (26-29 August 2021)
Group D: Slovakia, Belarus, Austria, Poland. In Bratislava, Slovakia.
Group E: Latvia, France, Italy, Hungary. In Riga, Latvia.
Group F: Norway, Denmark, Korea, Slovenia. In Norway (city TBA).

Women’s Olympic Qualification

Final Olympic Qualification (26-29 August 2021)
Group C: Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway, Qualifier 6. In Pribram, Czech Republic.
Group D: Germany, Denmark, Austria, Qualifier 5. In Fussen, Germany.
Group E: Sweden, France, Slovakia, Qualifier 4. In Sweden (city TBA).

Olympic Qualification Round 2 (11-14 February 2021)
Group F: Korea, Great Britain, Slovenia, Qualifier 8. In Gangneung, Korea.
Group G: Italy, Kazakhstan, Spain, Chinese Taipei. In Cortina, Italy.
Group H: Netherlands, Poland, Mexico, Turkey. In Gdansk, Poland.

Olympic Qualification Round 1 (17-19 December 2020)
Group J: Iceland, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Lithuania. In Reykjavik, Iceland.