2021 IIHF World Championship

The 2021 IIHF World Championship is scheduled to take place from 21 May to 6 June 2021.[1] It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017.[2] Their joint bid won by a very tight margin against the Finnish bid with the cities of Tampere and Helsinki.[2] In January 2021, the IIHF decided to remove Belarus as a host due to security reasons.[3] On 2 February, the IIHF has voted to confirm Latvia, as the sole host for the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.[4]

2021 IIHF World Championship
Tournament details
Host country Latvia
Dates21 May – 6 June
Teams16
Venue(s)2 (in 1 host city)
← 2020 (cancelled)
2022 →

Venues

The Minsk Arena was originally planned to be used for the Championship.

 Riga Riga
Arēna Rīga Olympic Sports Centre
56°58′4.5″N 24°7′17″E 56.9679°N 24.1243°E / 56.9679; 24.1243 (Riga)
Capacity: 10,300 Capacity: 6,200

Belarus hosting controversy
previous official logo.

Despite similar political opposition in 2014 when Belarus was the sole host of the IIHF World Championship, Belarus was to be the host for the 2021 IIHF Championship. However, in the wake of the ongoing 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, several political groups, politicians and international entities, including the European Parliament and Krišjānis Kariņš prime minister of Latvia which was set to co-host the championship, protested tournament matches being held in Belarus, and called for Belarus to be stripped of co-hosting duties.[5][6][7][8][9][10] Several sponsors of the event reportedly threatened to withdraw from sponsoring the event if it took place in Belarus.[11][12][13]

On 18 January 2021, the IIHF, citing "safety and security issues," decided that the World Championship will not be played in Belarus.[3] Latvia will remain as a co-host for the time-being, but the IIHF was considering whether to go with another site, due to COVID-19 constraints and the desirability for single-site travel. Both Denmark and Slovakia (the tournament hosts in 2018 and 2019 respectively) reportedly offered to step in as host.[3][14]

Participants

Qualified as host

Automatic qualifier after the cancellation of the 2020 IIHF World Championship

Seeding

The seedings in the preliminary round are based on the 2020 IIHF World Ranking, as of the end of the 2019 IIHF World Championship, using the serpentine system.[15]

Preliminary round

The groups were announced on 20 May 2020.[15] The schedule was released on 5 February 2021.[16]

Group A
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Russia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals
2  Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Czech Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5  Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6  Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7  Belarus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8  Great Britain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 21 May 2021. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
21 May 2021
Russia v Czech Republic
Belarus v Slovakia
22 May 2021
Denmark v Sweden
Great Britain v Russia
Czech Republic v  Switzerland
23 May 2021
Great Britain v Slovakia
Sweden v Belarus
Denmark v  Switzerland
24 May 2021
Slovakia v Russia
Czech Republic v Belarus
25 May 2021
Great Britain v Denmark
Switzerland  v Sweden
26 May 2021
Russia v Denmark
Belarus v Great Britain
27 May 2021
Switzerland  v Slovakia
Sweden v Czech Republic
28 May 2021
Sweden v Great Britain
Denmark v Belarus
29 May 2021
Czech Republic v Great Britain
Switzerland  v Russia
Slovakia v Denmark
30 May 2021
Belarus v  Switzerland
Sweden v Slovakia
31 May 2021
Czech Republic v Denmark
Russia v Sweden
1 June 2021
Switzerland  v Great Britain
Slovakia v Czech Republic
Russia v Belarus

Group B
Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Quarterfinals
2  Finland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5  Latvia (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6  Norway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7  Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8  Kazakhstan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on 21 May 2021. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host.
21 May 2021
Germany v Italy
Canada v Latvia
22 May 2021
Norway v Germany
Finland v United States
Latvia v Kazakhstan
23 May 2021
Norway v Italy
Kazakhstan v Finland
Canada v United States
24 May 2021
Latvia v Italy
Germany v Canada
25 May 2021
United States v Kazakhstan
Finland v Norway
26 May 2021
Kazakhstan v Germany
Canada v Norway
27 May 2021
United States v Latvia
Finland v Italy
28 May 2021
Kazakhstan v Canada
Latvia v Norway
29 May 2021
Italy v Kazakhstan
Norway v United States
Germany v Finland
30 May 2021
Italy v Canada
Finland v Latvia
31 May 2021
United States v Germany
Norway v Kazakhstan
1 June 2021
Canada v Finland
Italy v United States
Germany v Latvia

Playoff round

Bracket
 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
          
 
3 June
 
 
 
 
5 June
 
 
 
 
 
3 June
 
 
 
 
 
6 June
 
 
 
 
 
3 June
 
 
 
 
 
5 June
 
 
 
 
 
3 June
 
 Third place
 
 
 
6 June
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Final
6 June 2021
20:15		WSF1vWSF2Arēna Rīga, Riga

References
  1. "Welcome to Minsk & Riga in 2021". IIHF.com. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. Merk, Martin (19 May 2017). "To Minsk & Riga in 2021!". IIHF.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  3. "IIHF to move 2021 World Championship". IIHF.com. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  4. "Latvia confirmed as Worlds host". IIHF.com. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  5. EU Parliament’s letter on BELARUS to the IIHF
  6. Situation in Belarus. European Parliament resolution of 17 September 2020 on the situation in Belarus(2020/2779(RSP))
  7. "Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation".
  8. "Leuchanka joins calls for IIHF to strip Belarus of World Championship co-hosting rights". TASS. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  9. "Ice Hockey: Belarus must meet 'specific requirements' to host World Championship". Deutsche Welle. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  10. "Karins still does not see it possible for Minsk to host 2021 Hockey World Championship". Baltic Times. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  11. "Ice hockey sponsors threaten contract cancellation if championship stays in Belarus".
  12. "'Nivea' has refused to sponsor a world hockey championship in Belarus". Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  13. "ŠKoda Refused to Sponsor the 2021 World Ice Hockey Championship if It Is Held in Belarus". Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  14. "IIHF won't hold men's worlds in Belarus". TSN. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  15. "Groups for Belarus/Latvia 2021". iihf.com. 20 May 2020.
  16. "Latvia opens Worlds vs. Canada". IIHF.com. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
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