List of IIHF World Rankings
This is a list of IIHF World Rankings from its inception in 2003. 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. 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, 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
Seven nations have achieved a top ten ranking every time between 2003–2023, they are : Canada, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, the United States, and Switzerland. An additional six nations, Slovakia, Germany, Latvia, Belarus, Norway, and Denmark have been in the top ten at least once.As of the 2024 IIHF World Championships, four countries have accomplished a first-place ranking: Canada fifteen times, Sweden six times, Russia four times, and Finland twice. Canada holds the record for highest cumulative point total in one ranking, has the most consecutive first-place rankings, and is the only nation to have achieved a top-five ranking every time.
Women's
Only six nations have achieved a top ten ranking every time between 2003–2022. These nations are : Canada, the United States, Finland, Sweden, Russia, and Switzerland. An additional ten nations, Germany, Japan, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, China, Slovakia, France, Denmark, Norway, Austria, and Hungary 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.