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IIHF World Ranking

Ranking of national ice hockey teams

The IIHF World Ranking is a ranking of the performance of the national ice hockey teams of member countries of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It is based on a formula giving points for each team's placings at IIHF-sanctioned tournaments over the previous four years. The ranking is used to determine seedings and qualification requirements for future IIHF tournaments. The United States' teams are ranked first in both men's and women's play. Russia's men team has more points overall in the men's rankings but is excluded from the list due to its ongoing suspension from IIHF competition.

IIHF World Ranking

Top 20 rankings as of June 2026[1]
Men's
RankChange*TeamPoints
1Increase 2  Switzerland5335
2Steady Canada5305
3Decrease 2 United States5305
4Increase 2 Finland5240
5Decrease 1 Sweden5110
6Decrease 1 Czech Republic5090
7Steady Germany4910
8Steady Slovakia4900
9Increase 1 Latvia4845
10Decrease 1 Denmark4760
11Increase 1 Norway4755
12Decrease 1 Austria4555
13Increase 2 Slovenia4375
14Steady Kazakhstan4370
15Decrease 2 France4350
16Increase 2 Italy4295
17Increase 2 Hungary4275
18Decrease 2 Great Britain4260
19Increase 3 Ukraine3995
20Decrease 1 Poland3965
Women's
RankChange*TeamPoints
1Steady United States5460
2Steady Canada5400
3Increase 1 Czech Republic5125
4Increase 1  Switzerland5100
5Decrease 2 Finland5090
6Increase 1 Sweden4980
7Increase 1 Germany4840
8Decrease 1 Japan4805
9Steady Hungary4545
10Steady Denmark4510
11Increase 3 France4460
12Decrease 1 Norway4455
13Steady Austria4400
14Decrease 2 China4365
15Increase 2 Italy4245
16Steady Netherlands4210
17Decrease 2 Slovakia4190
18Steady South Korea3960
19Steady Great Britain3910
20Steady Poland3875

The IIHF World Ranking is a ranking of the performance of the national ice hockey teams of member countries of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It is based on a formula giving points for each team's placings at IIHF-sanctioned tournaments over the previous four years. The ranking is used to determine seedings and qualification requirements for future IIHF tournaments. The United States' teams are ranked first in both men's and women's play. Russia's men team has more points overall in the men's rankings but is excluded from the list due to its ongoing suspension from IIHF competition.

Description

The system was approved at the IIHF congress of September 2003.[2] According to former IIHF President René Fasel, the system was designed to be simple to understand and "reflect the long-term quality of all national hockey programs and their commitment to international hockey".[3]

The ranking is used to determine the seeding of the teams for the next World Championship and to select the teams which can participate in Winter Olympics without playing in the qualifying round. For example, for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the first eight teams of the Men's World Ranking and the first six of the Women's World Ranking were pre-qualified. Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics was structured around the 2019 ranking. Twelve spots were made available for teams. The top eight teams in the World Ranking after the 2019 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships received automatic berths into the Ice Hockey event. All IIHF teams had an opportunity to qualify for the event. Teams that wished to participate ranked below 36th played in two preliminary qualifications in November 2019. The two winners of the first preliminaries and teams ranked 27–36th were divided in three groups to play in the second pre-qualification round in December 2019. The three winners of those preliminaries joined teams ranked 18–26th for the third pre-qualification round of three groups in February 2020. The winner of each of these pre-qualification groups and teams ranked 9–17 were divided in three groups to play in the final qualification in August 2021. The winner of each group then joined the eight top-ranked teams plus the host in the Olympics in 2022.

The women's tournament uses a similar qualification format. The top six teams in the IIHF Women's World Ranking after the 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship received automatic berths into the ice hockey event. Lower ranked teams had an opportunity to qualify for the event. Teams ranked 16th and below were divided into three groups where they played in a preliminary qualification round in the October 2021. The three group winners from the round advanced to the final qualification round, where the teams ranked seventh through fifteenth joined them.[4]

Formula

The world ranking is based on the final positions of the last four Men's or Women's IIHF World Championships and last Olympic ice hockey tournament. Points are assigned according to a team's final placement in the World Championship or the Olympic tournament. The world champion receives 1600 points and then a 20-point interval is used between teams. However, a 40-point interval is used between gold and silver, silver and bronze, fourth and fifth, and eighth and ninth. This is used as a bonus for the teams who reach the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the final and for winning the gold medal.[1] Prior to 2023, the world champion received 1200 points, with other teams receiving the same point interval decreases.

Place 1234567891011121314151617181920...
Points 16001560152015001460144014201400136013401320130012801260124012201200118011601140...

Points awarded in the current year are valued at the full amount. Points award in the prior years decline linearly by 25% until the fifth year when they are dropped from the calculation. Under this formula, any year with a World Championship and an Olympics will be counted twice in the tables[a], for a maximum ranking (gold medal in all five events) of: 5600 points at the completion of an Olympic year, 5200 points at the completion of the following year, 4800 points the next year, and 4400 points in the year before the next Olympics. For example, if after the 2026 Championship a team had won the gold medal in the last four championships and the last Olympic tournament, their score would be 5600:[b]

Competition Valuation
coefficient
Points
2026 IIHF World Championship100%1600
2026 Winter Olympics100%1600
2025 IIHF World Championship75%1200
2024 IIHF World Championship50%800
2023 IIHF World Championship25%400
2022 IIHF World Championship0%0
2022 Winter Olympics0%0
Counts five tournaments from four latest years5600
  1. From April 2014 to August 2022, Women's rankings counted Olympics points twice, to be on same formula as Men's rankings, as no Women's top division World Championship was held in Olympic years. This changed with the Women's top division starting to be held in Olympic years in 2022.
  2. Due to the point value change from 2023, tournaments from 2020-2022 will still use the 1200 point values in the formula.

Men's rankings

The current men's ranking (as of June 2026) is based on the performance at the World Championships of 2026, 2025, 2024, and 2023, and at the Olympic ice hockey tournament of 2026. In the upcoming May 2027 rankings, points from the 2027 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships will be added and points from the 2023 World Championship will be dropped.

Russia and Belarus were expelled from competing in all World Championships since 2022 because of their invasion of Ukraine. They were, however, granted the points of the positions they would have been seeded based on their 2021 ranking: in 2022, Russia in third place received 1120 points, and Belarus in 14th place received 860 points. Several nations withdrew from the 2022 World Championships over COVID-19 concerns. These nations similarly received the points of the positions they would have been seeded within their respective tournaments: Australia as second place in IIA received 560 points, New Zealand as third place in IIB received 440 points, North Korea as first place in IIIA received 360 points, Hong Kong as second place in IIIB received 220 points, and the Philippines as fourth place in IV received 100 points.[5]

The following table lists the full breakdown of ranking following the 2026 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships.[6] Scores in italics represent minimum possible scores for unfinished tournaments. All tournament's points have their full value displayed, while the ranking is calculated by adding the current year's tournament points to the depreciated previous three years' tournament points as explained above. The depreciated percentages are shown in the column headings, first for the current total, then for the new total. The "Total" columns are the sums of the current tournament points and the depreciated values for past tournaments. The "+/–" columns indicate the increase or decrease in ranking since the last tournament. A dash in a tournament column indicates that the country did not participate.

Jun
2026
Rank
Feb
2026
Rank
Team WC division
(as of 2027)
WC2026
(—)
(100%)
OLY2026
(100%)
(100%)
WC2025
(100%)
(75%)
WC2024
(75%)
(50%)
WC2023
(50%)
(25%)
WC2022
(25%)
(0%)
June
2026
Total
+/− Feb
2026
Total
+/−
NRNR RussiaExpelled1600160015601520152011205510Steady5340Steady
13  SwitzerlandChampionship1560146015601560146010605335Increase 25185Decrease 1
22 CanadaChampionship1500156014601500160011605305Steady5235Increase 1
31 United StatesChampionship1400160016001460150011005305Decrease 25320Steady
46 FinlandChampionship1600152014201400142012005240Increase 25040Steady
54 SwedenChampionship1420142015201520144010405100Decrease 15060Steady
65 CzechiaChampionship1460140014401600140011205090Decrease 15020Steady
77 GermanyChampionship1340144013601440156010204910Steady4915Steady
88 SlovakiaChampionship1360150013201420136010004900Steady4815Increase 1
910 LatviaChampionship144013401340136015209404845Increase 14695Steady
109 DenmarkChampionship130013601500128013409604760Decrease 14730Decrease 1
1112 NorwayChampionship152012801300132012808804755Increase 14430Steady
1211 AustriaChampionship132012001400134012609204565Decrease 14465Steady
1315 SloveniaChampionship128012401280118012208004375Increase 24215Steady
1414 KazakhstanChampionship120012601240130013208604370Steady4350Decrease 1
1513 FranceDivision I A116013201220126013009004350Decrease 14360Increase 1
1618 ItalyDivision I A124013001180116011608404295Increase 14140Increase 1
1719 HungaryChampionship126011601260120012407804275Increase 14135Decrease 2
NRNR BelarusExpelled120012201220124012608604270Steady4215Steady
1816 Great BritainDivision I A122012201200124012008204260Decrease 24155Increase 1
1922 UkraineChampionship118011401160108010606603995Increase 33805Steady
2019 PolandDivision I A114010801120122011807003965Decrease 13880Steady
2120 JapanDivision I B110011801140112010806803965Decrease 13870Steady
2221 RomaniaDivision I B104011201100114011207203835Decrease 13815Steady
2324 LithuaniaDivision I A112010601080106011007603795Increase 13675Steady
2423 South KoreaDivision I B102011001060110011407403750Decrease 13740Steady
2525 EstoniaDivision I A108010201040104010206403655Steady3510Increase 1
2626 ChinaDivision I B106010401020102010406003635Steady3495Decrease 1
2727 SpainDivision I B10001000100010009605403490Steady3365Steady
2828 NetherlandsDivision I B98096096098010005803400Steady3300Steady
2930 CroatiaDivision II A9609409809609405603350Increase 13250Decrease 1
3029 SerbiaDivision II A9409809409409806203340Decrease 13270Increase 1
3131 IcelandDivision II B8009208208608804802985Steady2945Increase 2
3236 GeorgiaDivision II A8609008408000[a]4602790Increase 42455Increase 8
3332 BulgariaDivision II B7808207807808004202775Decrease 12690Increase 3
3433 Chinese TaipeiDivision III A7408807607607203002750Decrease 12645Increase 4
3534 TurkeyDivision II B7208406807407603402630Decrease 12540Increase 4
3635 ThailandDivision III A6408007407206602202520Decrease 12465Increase 4
3737 South AfricaDivision III A6608606606406802402505Decrease 12400Increase 8
3839 United Arab EmiratesDivision II A9209209208403602280Increase 12900Steady
3938 AustraliaDivision II A8808808809205602210Decrease 12140Decrease 7
4041 BelgiumDivision II A9009008408204402200Increase 12050Decrease 9
4140 IsraelDivision II B8408609009005202160Decrease 12115Decrease 11
4242 New ZealandDivision II B8208008207804402025Steady1915Decrease 8
4344 KyrgyzstanDivision II B7607207006001601800Increase 12345Increase 2
4443 TurkmenistanDivision III B6207006607003201650Decrease 11625Decrease 6
4546 MexicoDivision III A7006006207404001645Increase 11535Decrease 6
4647 Bosnia and HerzegovinaDivision III A6806406005802001605Increase 12150Increase 7
4746 LuxembourgDivision III B5406206806402801505Decrease 11520Decrease 6
4848 Hong KongDivision III B5605605605602201400Steady2055Increase 5
4952 North KoreaDivision III B5805805803601305Increase 31105Steady
5051 MongoliaDivision III B5205404804601280Increase 11130Steady
5149 PhilippinesDivision III B5005205404801001280Decrease 21190Decrease 1
5250 SingaporeDivision IV A4805005205401201250Decrease 21190Increase 1
5354 KuwaitDivision IV A440440460440801100Increase 11725Increase 6
5453 IranDivision IV B4004005005201401080Decrease 11750Increase 8
5556 IndonesiaDivision IV A4204204404201060Increase 1960Steady
5655 MalaysiaDivision IV B3803804205001001000Decrease 1970Steady
5757 UzbekistanDivision III A600480960Steady480Steady
5858 ArmeniaDivision IV A460460805Steady460Steady
NRNR IndiaDivision IV BSteadySteady
NRNR MoroccoDivision IV BSteadySteady
  1. Georgia's result in 2023 was invalidated by the IIHF.

Women's rankings

The current women's ranking (as of April 2025) is based on the performance at the World Championships of 2025, 2024, 2023, and 2022, and at the Olympic ice hockey tournament of 2022. In the upcoming February 2026 rankings, points from the 2026 Olympic tournament will be added and points from the 2022 Olympics will be dropped.

The following table lists the ranking following the 2025 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships.[6] and the calculations of the rankings following the 2026 Winter Olympics. Scores in italics represent minimum possible scores for unfinished tournaments. All tournament's points have their full value displayed, while the ranking is calculated by adding the current year's tournament points to the depreciated previous three years' tournament points as explained above. The depreciated percentages are shown in the column headings, first for the current total, then for the new total. The "Total" columns are the sums of the current tournament points and the depreciated values for past tournaments. The "+/–" columns indicate the increase or decrease in ranking since the last tournament. A dash in a tournament column indicates that the country did not participate.

Feb
2026
Rank
2025
Rank
Team WC division
(as of 2026)
OLY2026
(—)
(100%)
WC2025
(100%)
(100%)
WC2024
(75%)
(75%)
WC2023
(50%)
(50%)
WC2022
(25%)
(25%)
OLY2022
(25%)
(0%)
Feb
2026
Total
+/− 2025
Total
+/−
11 United StatesChampionship1600160015601600116011605460Steady4150Increase 1
22 CanadaChampionship1560156016001560120012005400Steady4140Decrease 1
34 CzechiaChampionship1460150015001520112010205125Increase 13920Steady
45  SwitzerlandChampionship1520146014601500110011005100Increase 13855Steady
53 FinlandChampionship1440152015201460104011205090Decrease 23930Steady
66 SwedenChampionship1500144014201440102010004980Steady3730Increase 1
NRNR RussiaExpelled1440144014401460110010604965Steady3790Steady
78 GermanyChampionship14201400144014009608604840Increase 13635Steady
87 JapanChampionship1360142014001420106010404805Decrease 13705Decrease 1
99 HungaryDivision I A130013401300136010009204545Steady3475Steady
1010 DenmarkChampionship13201300134013009409404510Steady3425Steady
1114 FranceDivision I A13401260128013409208804460Increase 33340Decrease 2
1211 NorwayDivision I A12601360132012409008404455Decrease 13405Increase 2
1313 AustriaChampionship12801320126012808609004400Steady3345Increase 1
1412 ChinaDivision I A12401240136013208209604365Decrease 23365Decrease 1
1517 ItalyDivision I A14001200116011607808004245Increase 23045Increase 1
1616 NetherlandsDivision I B12201220124012608407404210Steady3175Steady
1715 SlovakiaDivision I A11801280120012208808204190Decrease 23215Steady
1818 South KoreaDivision I B11401120122012007407803960Steady3015Decrease 1
1919 Great BritainDivision I B11601160114011207007203910Steady2930Increase 1
2020 PolandDivision II A12001060110011808007603875Steady2865Decrease 1
2123 LatviaDivision I B11001180118010806803875Increase 22775Increase 3
2222 KazakhstanDivision I B11201140108011007606603810Steady2855Steady
2321 SloveniaDivision II A10801100112011407206803770Decrease 22860Steady
2424 SpainDivision I B10201080106010606607003590Steady2745Decrease 1
2526 MexicoDivision II B1060980104010406206403495Increase 12595Decrease 2
2625 Chinese TaipeiDivision II A10401020102010206406203495Decrease 12610Steady
2727 IcelandDivision II A10001040100010005806003435Steady2585Steady
2829 TurkeyDivision III A9808608808605405803095Decrease 12260Decrease 1
2933 LithuaniaDivision II B9608408008004405202910Decrease 22080Steady
3036 CroatiaDivision III A9207607608805002815Increase 61895Steady
3138 RomaniaDivision III A9007808207804202790Increase 51890Steady
3237 BulgariaDivision III A9407207407604205402700Increase 51895Decrease 2
3340 SerbiaDivision III A8608007807203202685Increase 71825Steady
3441 EstoniaDivision III B8806807007403402540Increase 71660Decrease 2
3528 AustraliaDivision II A9609409405602275Decrease 72275Increase 2
3630 BelgiumDivision II B9009809604602230Decrease 62230Increase 1
3732 New ZealandDivision II B9409009205402210Decrease 52210Steady
3844 ThailandDivision III A8408207202200Decrease 61360Steady
3931 Hong KongDivision II B8809208403805602085Decrease 82225Decrease 2
4034 UkraineDivision II B9208408204602075Decrease 62075Increase 3
4135 South AfricaDivision III B7408609005201965Decrease 61965Decrease 1
4239 North KoreaDivision II A10009606201875Decrease 31875Increase 2
4342 IsraelDivision III B7006807002801630Decrease 11630Increase 1
4443 Bosnia and HerzegovinaDivision III B6606606803001570Decrease 11570Decrease 1
4545 SingaporeDivision III B6406601135Steady1135Steady
newnew PhilippinesDivision III BnewSteadynewSteady

See also

Notes

^  Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to have been given an incorrect score in 2024. They were shown to have 1395 points in the 2024 World Ranking list[7] which calculates to earning 660 points that year instead of the 640 points they should have earned for 46th place. Singapore was also awarded 660 points.

References

  1. 1 2 "IIHF – World Ranking". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  2. Hockey Canada (30 September 2003). "IIHF Introduces World Ranking and Ranks Canada First in Men's and Women's Hockey". Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  3. Edvinsson, Jan-Ake, ed. (November 2003). "News release–Hockey fans are the best in the world" (PDF). Ice Times. 7 (5). International Ice Hockey Federation: 7. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. "Olympic Winter Games". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  5. "Finland Stays #1 in World Ranking". iihf.com. IIHF. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  6. 1 2 "IIHF - World Ranking". IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  7. "IIHF – World Ranking (2024 Archive)". iihf.com. IIHF. Archived from the original on 17 January 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)