This is a list of IIHF World Rankings from its inception in 2003. 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 ...

is a ranking of the performance of the national

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

teams of member countries of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(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 system was approved at the IIHF congress of September 2003. According to IIHF President

René Fasel René Fasel (born 6 February 1950) is a Swiss retired ice hockey administrator. He served as president of the International Ice Hockey Federation from 1994 to 2021. He started his ice hockey career as a player for HC Fribourg-Gottéron, in 1960, ...

, 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".

Men's

IIHF World Ice Hockey Ranking graph from 2003

Seven nations have achieved a top ten ranking every time (including Olympic rankings) between 2003–2023, they are (in order of average ranking): Canada, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, the United States, and Switzerland. An additional six nations, Slovakia (twenty-five times), Germany (nineteen times), Latvia (fifteen times), Belarus (nine times), Norway (eight times), and Denmark (twice) have been in the top ten at least once. As of the 2023 IIHF World Championships, four countries have accomplished a first-place ranking: Canada fourteen times, Sweden six times, Russia four times, and Finland twice. Canada holds the record for highest cumulative point total in one ranking (4150 points in 2023), has the most consecutive first-place rankings (eight times between 2015 and 2021), and is the only nation to have achieved a top-five ranking every time.

2003–10

2011–18

2019–

Women's

Only six nations have achieved a top ten ranking every time between 2003–2022. These nations are (in order of average ranking): Canada, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Russia, and Switzerland. An additional ten nations, Germany (twenty-two times), Japan (twenty-one times), Czech Republic (thirteen times), Kazakhstan (ten times), China (nine times), Slovakia (five times), France (three times), Denmark (three times), Norway (twice), Austria (twice), and Hungary (twice) have been in the top ten at least once. As of 2022, only two countries have accomplished a first-place ranking: Canada thirteen times and the United States ten times. Canada, Finland and the United States are the only nations to have achieved a top-four ranking every time, with Canada and the United States never falling below a top-two ranking. In December 2017, six Russian women hockey players were found to have committed doping violations at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The IOC disqualified the Russian team from the 2014 hockey tournament and the IIHF was requested to modify the results accordingly. The information in this historical section does not reflect any changes that the IIHF may make in the record.

2003–10

2011–18

2019–

References

Specific

General

2003 ranking:

2004 ranking:

2005 ranking:

Feb 2006 ranking:

May 2006 ranking:

Men's

2003–10

2011–18

2019–

Women's

2003–10

2011–18

2019–

References

Specific

General

External links