The Kuwait national ice hockey team () is the national men's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team of

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. The team is controlled by the Kuwait Ice Hockey Association and a member of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey to ...

(IIHF) since 8 May 2009. As of 28 May 2023, Kuwait is currently ranked 50th in the

IIHF World Ranking 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 tour ...

. Kuwait participated in the

IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia The IIHF Asia and Oceania Championship (formerly the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia) are a series of international ice hockey tournaments. The purpose of the tournament is to provide competitive opportunities for Asia and Oceania teams, especially ...

, a regional tournament for lower-tier hockey nations in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, from 2010 to 2018. Kuwait made its World Championship debut at the 2018 Division III Qualification tournament.

History

In 1985, Kuwait had joined the IIHF, but was expelled in 1992 due to a lack of ice hockey activity. In 1999, Kuwait played their first games at the

1999 Asian Winter Games The 4th Asian Winter Games (), also known as Kangwon 1999 (), were held from January 30 to February 6, 1999, in the province of Gangwon Province (South Korea), Kangwon (now Gangwon), South Korea. The games were staged in three different clusters i ...

against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, losing all three. In 2007, Kuwait returned to international play at the

2007 Asian Winter Games The 6th Asian Winter Games (), also known as Changchun 2007 ( zh, , s=长春2007, labels=no), were held in Changchun, Jilin, China from January 28 to February 4, 2007. The Winter Games are a celebration of Winter sports in Asia. This was the sec ...

where they recorded their first win against

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. The following year they competed in the

Arab Cup The FIFA Arab Cup (), or Arab Cup, is an international association football competition organized by FIFA. It is held every four years with the participation of senior men's national teams of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), ...

finishing second after losing to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

in the final. In 2009, Kuwait re-admitted into the IIHF as an associate member. In 2010, Kuwait competed in their first Challenge Cup of Asia, finishing seventh overall, and in 2014, finishing 6th overall, losing all five games, and were relegated to Division I. Also they participated in the Kuwaiti organized Gulf Championship, finishing second behind the United Arab Emirates.

Tournament record

World Championships

Asian Winter Games

Arab Cup/GCC Gulf Championship

Asia and Oceania Championship

All-time record against other national teams

''Last match update: 17 April 2025''

References

External links

*
IIHF profile
{{Men's national ice hockey teams Ice hockey in Kuwait National ice hockey teams in Asia National ice hockey teams in the Arab world

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

Men's national ice hockey teams