The IIHF World Junior Championship is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally held from late December to the beginning of January. The main tournament features the top ten ranked hockey nations in the world, comprising the "Top Division", from which a world champion is crowned. There are also three lower pools—Divisions I, II and III—that each play separate tournaments playing for the right to be promoted to a higher pool with the last place team facing relegation to a lower pool.[1]
The first official tournament was held in 1977. Prior to that, there had been invitational tournaments in 1974, 1975 and 1976 that were not sanctioned by the IIHF.[2]
As of 2024, 48 official tournaments have been staged, while the 2022 tournament was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic .[3] Historically, the tournament has been dominated by Canada (20 gold medals) and the Soviet Union/CIS/Russia (13 gold medals). The USSR won the first four official tournaments, while the Canadians put together five straight championships between 1993 and 1997 , and another five straight from 2005 to 2009 . Canada leads the all-time gold medal count with 20 golds, while the Soviet Union/CIS/Russia have 13 golds.
Medalists The winners by season listed below.
Unofficial tournaments Official tournaments Key (#) Number of tournaments (or 2nd, 3rd or 4th places) won at the time.Year Gold Silver Bronze4th place Host city (cities) Host country (countries) 1977 Soviet Union (1) Canada (1) Czechoslovakia (1) Finland (1) Zvolen and Banská Bystrica Czechoslovakia 1978 Soviet Union (2) Sweden (1) Canada (1) Czechoslovakia (1) Montreal and Quebec City Canada 1979 Soviet Union (3) Czechoslovakia (1) Sweden (1) Finland (2) Karlstad and Karlskoga Sweden 1980 Soviet Union (4) Finland (1) Sweden (2) Czechoslovakia (2) Helsinki and Vantaa Finland 1981 Sweden (1) Finland (2) Soviet Union (1) Czechoslovakia (3) Füssen , Landsberg and Kaufbeuren West Germany 1982 Canada (1) Czechoslovakia (2) Finland (1) Soviet Union (1) Bloomington , Minneapolis and Duluth Winnipeg and Kenora United States Canada 1983 Soviet Union (5) Czechoslovakia (3) Canada (2) Sweden (1) Leningrad Soviet Union 1984 Soviet Union (6) Finland (3) Czechoslovakia (2) Canada (1) Norrköping and Nyköping Sweden 1985 Canada (2) Czechoslovakia (4) Soviet Union (2) Finland (3) Helsinki and Turku Finland 1986 Soviet Union (7) Canada (2) United States (1) Czechoslovakia (4) Hamilton , Toronto and London Canada 1987 Finland [a] (1) Czechoslovakia [a] (5) Sweden [a] (3) United States (1) Piešťany , Topoľčany , Trenčín and Nitra Czechoslovakia 1988 Canada (3) Soviet Union (1) Finland (2) Czechoslovakia (5) Moscow Soviet Union 1989 Soviet Union (8) Sweden (2) Czechoslovakia (3) Canada (2) Anchorage and Eagle River United States 1990 Canada (4) Soviet Union (2) Czechoslovakia (4) Finland (4) Helsinki and Turku Finland [b] 1991 Canada (5) Soviet Union (3) Czechoslovakia (5) United States (2) Saskatoon Canada 1992 CIS [6] (1) Sweden (3) United States (2) Finland (5) Füssen and Kaufbeuren Germany 1993 Canada (6) Sweden (4) Czech Republic and Slovakia [7] (6) United States (3) Gävle , Uppsala and Falun Sweden 1994 Canada (7) Sweden (5) Russia (1) Finland (6) Ostrava and Frýdek-Místek Czech Republic 1995 Canada (8) Russia (1) Sweden (4) Finland (7) Red Deer , Edmonton and Calgary Canada 1996 Canada (9) Sweden (6) Russia (2) Czech Republic (1) Boston , Amherst and Marlborough United States 1997 Canada (10) United States (1) Russia (3) Czech Republic (2) Geneva and Morges Switzerland 1998 Finland (2) Russia (2) Switzerland (1) Czech Republic (3) Helsinki and Hämeenlinna Finland 1999 Russia (1) Canada (3) Slovakia (1) Sweden (2) Winnipeg , Brandon and Selkirk Canada 2000 Czech Republic (1) Russia (3) Canada (3) United States (4) Skellefteå and Umeå Sweden 2001 Czech Republic (2) Finland (4) Canada (4) Sweden (3) Moscow and Podolsk Russia 2002 Russia (2) Canada (4) Finland (3) Switzerland (1) Pardubice and Hradec Králové Czech Republic 2003 Russia (3) Canada (5) Finland (4) United States (5) Halifax and Sydney Canada 2004 United States (1) Canada (6) Finland (5) Czech Republic (4) Helsinki and Hämeenlinna Finland 2005 Canada (11) Russia (4) Czech Republic (1) United States (6) Grand Forks and Thief River Falls United States 2006 Canada (12) Russia (5) Finland (6) United States (7) Vancouver , Kelowna and Kamloops Canada 2007 Canada (13) Russia (6) United States (3) Sweden (4) Leksand and Mora Sweden 2008 Canada (14) Sweden (7) Russia (4) United States (8) Pardubice and Liberec Czech Republic 2009 Canada (15) Sweden (8) Russia (5) Slovakia (1) Ottawa Canada 2010 United States (2) Canada (7) Sweden (5) Switzerland (2) Saskatoon and Regina Canada 2011 Russia (4) Canada (8) United States (4) Sweden (5) Buffalo and Lewiston [8] United States 2012 Sweden (2) Russia (7) Canada (5) Finland (8) Calgary and Edmonton Canada 2013 United States (3) Sweden (9) Russia (6) Canada (3) Ufa Russia 2014 Finland (3) Sweden (10) Russia (7) Canada (4) Malmö Sweden 2015 Canada (16) Russia (8) Slovakia (2) Sweden (6) Toronto and Montreal Canada 2016 Finland (4) Russia (9) United States (5) Sweden (7) Helsinki Finland 2017 United States (4) Canada (9) Russia (8) Sweden (8) Montreal and Toronto [9] Canada 2018 Canada (17) Sweden (11) United States (6) Czech Republic (5) Buffalo and Orchard Park [10] United States 2019 Finland (5) United States (2) Russia (9) Switzerland (3) Vancouver and Victoria Canada 2020 Canada (18) Russia (10) Sweden (6) Finland (9) Ostrava and Třinec Czech Republic 2021 United States (5) Canada (10) Finland (7) Russia (1) Edmonton Canada 2022 Canada (19) Finland (5) Sweden (7) Czechia (6) Edmonton Canada 2023 Canada (20) Czechia (1) United States (7) Sweden (9) Halifax and Moncton Canada 2024 United States (6) Sweden (12) Czechia (2) Finland (10) Gothenburg Sweden 2025 Ottawa Canada 2026 Minneapolis and Saint Paul United States 2027 Calgary and Edmonton Canada
Medal table Map of countries' best results The unofficial tournaments held prior to 1977 are not included in this table.
Countries in italics no longer compete at the World Championships.
See also Notes References External links