IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship

International men's hockey, 1996–2017

Not to be confused with FIRS Inline Hockey World Championships.

IIHF Inline Hockey World ChampionshipSport| Inline hockey

|

Founded| 1996
Ceased| 2017
Last
champion(s)|  United States (2017)
Most titles|  United States (7 titles)
Official website| IIHF.com

The IIHF Inline Hockey World Championships were an annual international men's inline hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The first World Championship was held in 1996 in which eleven nations participated. In 2003, sixteen nations took part and were split into two divisions. The top eight teams played for the World Championship and the other eight played for the Division I title. The last format in use featured the World Championship, Division I and three regional qualification tournaments. The World Championship and Division I tournament were played on odd years and the qualification tournaments were played on even years. The United States was the tournament's most dominant team, winning the World Championship seven times. After 20 editions, the IIHF cancelled the tournament in June 2019.

## History

[edit]

During the first three years of the IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship, North American teams dominated the field. The United States and Canada finished in first and second place at each of the first three championships, in which the United States played host to each year.

In 1998, the format of the tournament changed and so, for the first time, did the gold medalist. The tournament was expanded to include two groups, one with the top eight teams in Anaheim, California and the other group, with the next eight nations, hosted in Bratislava, Slovakia. Canada upset the two-time world champion and hosts, Team USA, for the gold medal. The 2000 World Championship was the first true shift in the standings to Europe’s advantage. Finland finally upgraded its bronze medal and went home with the gold after defeating the hosts, the Czech Republic, in the final game. Team USA closed out the medal winners with a bronze medal. The 2000 World Championship also featured New Zealand and Chile in the world championship mix for the first time. Overall, the 2000 tournament had teams from four continents (North America, South America, Europe and Australia) represented.

In 2001, Finland won the gold medal for the second straight year, edging out the host again, this time, Team USA. The Czech Republic took home a medal for the second straight year, earning the bronze medal and again four continents were represented. In 2002, Sweden emerged from out of nowhere to win its first-ever medal, which proved to be gold. The highest the Swedes had ever finished in the A Group was fifth and it was just Sweden’s third season in the top Group. That year, Germany gave the fans in Nurnberg something to cheer about, earning its first medal at the Inline Hockey World Championship, a bronze medal effort.

In 2003, it was Finland squeaking past Sweden in the final game, while Team USA returned to the podium, claiming the bronze medal. In 2010, USA won its fifth championship, first since 2006 and in 2012, Canada won its first championship since 1998. In July 2015 it was announced that the World Championships would be changed from an annual tournament to a biennial tournament.[1] The change means that three qualification tournaments will be held in the even years to earn promotion to Division I, starting in 2016, and the World Championships will be held in the odd years, starting in 2017.[1] The qualification tournaments have been restructured into three regions to lower travel costs with the regions now being Africa/South America, Asia/Oceania, and Europe/North America.[1] In January 2016 the IIHF announced that two of the qualification tournaments had been realigned with North America moving into the Africa/South America tournament to become Americas/Africa, leaving Europe to have its own qualification tournament.[2]

In June 2019 the IIHF announced that they would no longer govern inline hockey or organize the Inline Hockey World Championships.[3] The IIHF had earlier cancelled the 2019 edition of the tournament due to a lack of applications for hosting the event.[3]

## Format

[edit]

The longest-lasting format for the World Championships featured 16 teams: 8 teams in the Top Division and 8 teams in Division I. If more than 16 teams wished to participate, qualification tournaments were held. In the preliminary round, the 16 teams were split into 4 groups (Groups A through D) with Groups A and B forming the Top Division, and the Groups C and D forming Division I. The teams play each other in a round robin format, and then all teams proceeded to the quarterfinals. Single-game elimination rounds were played to establish 1st through 8th place.

At the end of the tournament, the best seven teams of the Top Division and the winner of Division I qualified for the next IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Top Division. The last-placed team of the Top Division was relegated to the next IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship Division I. Additionally, the bottom three placed teams in Division I were relegated to the Qualification tournaments, which were split into the three regions of Africa / South America, Asia / Oceania, and Europe / North America.[1] The winners of the Qualification tournaments gained promotion to the next Division I tournament.[1]

## Divisions

[edit]

The last format of the IIHF Inline Hockey World Championships involved the Top Division and Division I playing on odd years and three regional qualification tournaments playing on even years. The regional qualification tournaments were Americas/Africa, Asia/Oceania and Europe.[2] For a full list of IIHF members, see List of members of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

### Top Division and Division I

[edit]

See also: List of IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship medalists

The Top Division comprised the top eight inline hockey nations in the world, split into Groups A and B. Division I comprised eight teams, split into Groups C and D.

Team | Appearances | Debut | Most recent | Best result

|
|
|
|

Argentina | 12 | 1998 | 2017 | 12th (2001, 2015)
Australia | 19 | 1996 | 2017 | 9th (2000)
Austria | 19 | 1996 | 2015 | 4th (2007)
Belgium | 2 | 2002 | 2004 | 15th (2002, 2004)
Brazil | 13 | 2000 | 2017 | 8th (2001)
Bulgaria | 4 | 2008 | 2015 | 16th (2008, 2012, 2013, 2015)
Canada | 12 | 1996 | 2017 | 1st (1998, 2012, 2015)
Chile | 2 | 2000 | 2002 | 14th (2000)
Chinese Taipei | 2 | 2005 | 2009 | 15th (2009)
Croatia | 8 | 2006 | 2017 | 8th (2017)
Czechoslovakia | 2 | 1996 | 1997 | 5th (1997)
Czech Republic | 18 | 1998 | 2017 | 1st (2011)
Finland | 20 | 1996 | 2017 | 1st (2000, 2001, 2003, 2014)
Germany | 20 | 1996 | 2017 | 2nd (2012)
Great Britain | 16 | 1998 | 2017 | 8th (2012, 2014)
Hungary | 17 | 2000 | 2017 | 9th (2001, 2002, 2005)
Italy | 3 | 1996 | 1998 | 7th (1996, 1998)
Japan | 15 | 1996 | 2014 | 9th (2003)
Latvia | 3 | 2014 | 2017 | 10th (2017)
Namibia | 3 | 2005 | 2007 | 13th (2006)
Netherlands | 3 | 1997 | 2000 | 8th (2000)
New Zealand | 10 | 2000 | 2017 | 10th (2007)
Portugal | 1 | 2005 | 2005 | 15th (2005)
Russia | 3 | 1996 | 1998 | 4th (1997)
Slovakia | 18 | 2000 | 2017 | 2nd (2008)
Slovenia | 15 | 2002 | 2017 | 4th (2012)
South Africa | 4 | 2003 | 2011 | 16th (2003, 2007, 2009, 2011)
Sweden | 18 | 1998 | 2017 | 1st (2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009)
Switzerland | 3 | 1996 | 1998 | 3rd (1997)
United States | 20 | 1996 | 2017 | 1st (1996, 1997, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2017)

### Qualification tournaments

[edit]

The IIHF ran regional qualification tournaments in the year prior to the World Championship. The winner of each tournament qualified for a place in the Division I tournament. The last regional qualification tournaments to be used were Americas/Africa, Asia/Oceania and Europe.

Key:

* A: African Qualification tournament
* AO: Qualification Asia/Oceania tournament
* E: Qualification Europe tournament
* ROTW: Rest of the World Qualification tournament

Team | Appearances | Debut | Most recent | Best result

|
|
|
|

Argentina | 2 | 2013 ROTW | 2015 ROTW | 1st (2013 ROTW, 2015 ROTW)
Austria | 1 | 2016 E | 2016 E | 2nd (2016 E)
Belgium | 1 | 2016 E | 2016 E | 6th (2016 E)
Brazil | 1 | 2013 ROTW | 2013 ROTW | 2nd (2013 ROTW)
Bulgaria | 5 | 2010 E | 2016 E | 1st (2012 E, 2013 E, 2015 E)
Chile | 1 | 2015 ROTW | 2015 ROTW | 3rd (2015 ROTW)
Chinese Taipei | 2 | 2012 ROTW | 2016 AO | 2nd (2012 ROTW)
Croatia | 1 | 2010 E | 2010 E | 1st (2010 E)
Hong Kong | 1 | 2015 ROTW | 2015 ROTW | 2nd (2015 ROTW)
India | 1 | 2016 AO | 2016 AO | 4th (2016 AO)
Ireland | 1 | 2014 E | 2014 E | 2nd (2014 E)
Israel | 3 | 2010 E | 2016 E | 2nd (2015 E)
Japan | 1 | 2016 AO | 2016 AO | 2nd (2016 AO)
Latvia | 3 | 2013 E | 2016 E | 1st (2014 E, 2016 E)
Macedonia | 5 | 2012 E | 2016 E | 3rd (2012 E, 2014 E)
Namibia | 2 | 2009 A | 2011 A | 2nd (2009 A, 2011 A)
New Zealand | 2 | 2012 ROTW | 2016 AO | 1st (2012 ROTW, 2016 AO)
Serbia | 2 | 2015 E | 2016 E | 3rd (2015 E)
South Africa | 3 | 2009 A | 2012 ROTW | 1st (2009 A, 2011A)
Turkey | 4 | 2010 E | 2016 E | 2nd (2012 E)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Merk, Martin (2015-07-08). "Next Worlds in Bratislava". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
2. ^ a b "Inline Hockey qualification". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2016-01-29. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
3. ^ a b Merk, Martin (2019-06-24). "Statutes, Regulations amended". International Ice Hockey Federation. Archived from the original on 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-06-27.

## External links

[edit]

* Inline hockey on official IIHF website

* v
* t
* e

IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship

Top Division|

* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2017

Division I|

* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2017

* Medalists

* v
* t
* e

International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)

World Championships|

| Current|

* Men's Ice Hockey World Championship
* U20
* U18
* Women's Ice Hockey World Championship
* U18

|

Former|

* Inline Hockey World Championship

Other competitions|

| Current|

* Olympic Games
* Champions Hockey League
* Continental Cup
* Asia Championship
* Asia Cup
* Development Cup

|

Former|

* European Trophy
* Champions Hockey League (2008–09)
* Victoria Cup
* European Champions Cup
* European Cup
* Super Cup
* European Championships
* European Women Championships
* European Junior Championships
* European Women's Champions Cup
* Asian Oceanic U18 Championships
* World Women's Challenge
* Pan American Tournament

Awards and honors|

* Hall of Fame (list)
* Paul Loicq Award
* Torriani Award
* Centennial All-Star Team
* All-Time Teams
* Player of the Year (Female, Male)
* Johan Bollue Award
* Media Award
* Milestone Award

Related articles|

* World Ranking
* Past
* Members
* Teams
* Triple Gold Club
* International Ice Hockey Association

Category:International Ice Hockey Federation

* v
* t
* e

World championships

* List of world sports championships

Olympic sports|

| Team|

* Association football
* men
* men's club
* women
* women's club
* Baseball
* men
* men's 12
* women
* Basketball
* men
* women
* 3x3 basketball
* club
* Beach volleyball
* Cricket
* T20 (men)
* T20 (women)
* Curling
* mixed doubles
* mixed
* Field hockey
* men
* women
* Flag football
* Handball
* men
* women
* Ice hockey
* men
* women
* Lacrosse
* men
* women
* Rugby 7s
* Softball
* men
* women
* Volleyball
* men
* men's club
* women
* women's club
* Water polo
* men
* women

|

Individual|

* Aquatic sports
* Archery
* Athletics
* outdoor
* race walking
* Badminton
* men
* women
* mixed
* individual
* Biathlon
* Bobsleigh and skeleton
* Boxing
* women
* Canoeing
* slalom
* sprint
* Cycling
* BMX
* mountain biking
* road
* track
* urban
* Equestrianism
* dressage
* eventing
* show jumping
* Fencing
* Golf
* men
* women
* Gymnastics
* artistic
* rhythmic
* trampoline
* Ice skating
* figure
* short track
* speed
* Judo
* Luge
* artificial track
* natural track
* Modern pentathlon
* Rowing
* Sailing
* Olympic Class Combined Worlds
* Shooting
* Skateboarding
* Skiing
* alpine
* Nordic
* freestyle
* snowboarding
* Ski mountaineering
* Sport climbing
* Squash
* individual
* doubles
* team
* Surfing
* Table tennis
* Taekwondo
* Tennis
* men
* women
* Triathlon
* mixed relay
* Weightlifting
* Wrestling

Discontinued|

* Basque pelota
* Cricket
* Test
* Croquet
* singles
* team
* Dance sport
* breakdancing
* Karate
* Polo
* Rackets
* Real tennis
* Rugby union
* men
* women
* Tug of war
* outdoor
* indoor

Paralympic sports|

| Team|

* Blind football
* Para ice hockey
* men
* women
* Wheelchair basketball
* Wheelchair handball
* Wheelchair rugby
* Wheelchair curling
* mixed team
* Goalball
* Sitting volleyball

|

Individual|

* Archery
* Athletics
* Badminton
* Bobsleigh and skeleton
* Climbing
* Cycling
* track cycling
* road cycling
* Powerlifting
* Shooting
* Snowboard
* Skiing
* alpine
* Nordic
* Swimming
* Table tennis

Combat sports|

* Brazilian jiu-jitsu
* Ju-Jitsu World Championships
* Kendo
* Kickboxing (amateur)
* Muaythai
* Sambo
* Sumo
* Wrestling
* beach wrestling
* catch
* grappling
* Wushu

Cue sports|

* Carom billiards
* Three-cushion
* men
* women
* team
* Five-pins
* individual
* team
* artistic
* English billiards
* amateurs
* women
* Pool
* blackball
* chinese eight ball
* eight-ball
* men nine-ball
* women nine-ball
* team nine-ball
* pyramid
* ten-ball
* straight pool
* Snooker
* men
* women
* team
* amateurs
* six-red

Mind sports|

* Backgammon
* Bridge
* Chess
* open
* women
* team
* Draughts
* men
* women
* checkers
* draughts-64
* draughts-64 women
* Go
* Puzzles
* Scrabble
* Sudoku
* Xiangqi

| Esports|

* Call of Duty
* Counter-Strike
* Dota 2
* eSailing
* FIFA
* Fortnite
* League of Legends
* Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
* NES Tetris
* Overwatch
* Pro Evolution Soccer
* Rainbow Six Siege
* Rocket League
* Smite
* StarCraft II
* Valorant

|

Motorsport|

| Auto racing|

* Formula E
* Formula One
* Hill climb
* Karting
* Rallying
* Rallycross
* Rally raid
* Bajas
* Sports Car Endurance
* Touring Car

|

Motorcycle sports|

* Endurance
* Enduro
* Beach Racing
* SuperEnduro
* Hard Enduro
* team endurance
* Ice racing
* individual
* team
* Grand Prix
* MotoGP
* Moto2
* Moto3
* MotoE
* Motocross
* individual
* women
* nations
* Supercross
* SuperMotocross
* Sidecarcross
* Snowcross
* Production
* Superbike
* Supersport
* Supersport 300
* Women
* Rally raid
* Bajas
* Sidecar
* Speedway
* individual
* team
* long track
* team long track
* flat track
* Supermoto
* team
* Trial
* nations
* E-Bike
* cross

Other|

* Aeroplane sport
* Aerobatic
* Aerobatic GP
* Powerboating
* Aquabike
* F1
* F4s
* offshore
* Radio-controlled racing
* 1:10 electric off-road
* 1:8 nitro off-road
* Tank biathlon

Other sports|

| Team|

* American football
* men
* women
* Australian football
* Baseball5
* Ball hockey
* Bandy
* men
* men's club
* women
* women's club
* Cricket
* ODI (men)
* ODI (women)
* Beach handball
* Beach soccer
* Beach tennis
* Canoe polo
* Dancesport
* Formation Latin
* Dodgeball
* Fistball
* Floorball
* men
* women
* Futsal
* men
* women
* men's club
* women
* Indoor hockey
* men
* women
* Inline hockey
* Kabaddi
* Circle
* Standard
* Kho kho
* Korfball
* Lacrosse
* indoor
* Life saving
* Minifootball
* Netball
* Padel tennis
* Quadball
* Ringette
* Rogaining
* Roll Ball
* Roller derby
* men
* women
* Roller hockey
* men
* women
* Rugby league
* men
* men's club
* women
* Sailing
* Yachts
* Dinghies
* Sepaktakraw
* Socca
* Synchronized skating
* Tchoukball
* Underwater hockey
* Underwater rugby

|

Individual|

* Air sports
* ballooning
* gliding
* parachuting
* paragliding
* Aquatics
* water skiing
* Armwrestling
* Archery
* indoor
* 3D
* field
* Athletics
* cross country
* half marathon
* indoor
* women's decathlon
* relays
* 100 km
* mountain running
* long distance mountain running
* snowshoe running
* skyrunning
* trail running
* Bowling
* Tenpin
* Ninepin (singles, team)
* Bowls
* indoor
* outdoor
* Canoeing
* marathon
* ocean race
* wildwater
* SUP
* canoe sailing
* freestyle
* waveski
* Crokinole
* CrossFit
* Cycling
* cyclo-cross
* indoor
* mountain bike marathon
* trials
* Darts
* WDF
* PDC
* team
* Finswimming
* Fishing
* freshwater
* fly fishing
* Gymnastics
* acrobatic
* aerobic
* parkour
* Ice Climbing
* Modern pentathlon
* biathle
* triathle
* laser run
* Mounted games
* Orienteering
* foot
* ski
* mountain bike
* trail
* Pétanque
* Powerlifting
* Racquetball
* Roller Sports
* artistic skating
* inline alpine
* inline downhill
* inline speed skating
* roller freestyle
* scootering
* Rowing
* coastal
* indoor
* Shooting
* practical handgun
* practical rifle
* practical shotgun
* Skiing
* flying
* speed
* telemark
* Summer biathlon
* Strength athletics
* men
* women
* Surfing
* short board
* long board
* big wave
* SUP/paddleboard
* Swimming
* short course
* Teqball
* Triathlon
* Aquathlon
* Duathlon
* Ironman
* Ironman 70.3
* cross
* cross duathlon
* long distance
* long distance duathlon
* sprint
* winter
* Yo-yo

* See also: World cups

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