Ice Hockey World Championships Final 2019: hockey's biggest annual prize up for grabs

First held almost a century ago, the Ice Hockey World Championships is the sport's longest running and most prestigious tournament. Along with the Olympics it is the sport's top international event and, with top ranking points and a place in history at stake, is one of the most coveted trophies in international hockey. 

Canada was the tournament's first dominant team, winning the event 12 times between 1930 and 1952, while from 1963 until the nation's breakup in 1991, the Soviet Union was the dominant team, winning 20 championships. During that period, only three other nations won medals: Canada, Czechoslovakia and Sweden. The current champions are Sweden, who beat Switzerland 3–2 in Denmark in 2018.

Held from early-mid May each year, the World Championship is the premier event of the hockey calendar and will be hosted by Slovakia in 2019, with the host cities being Bratislava and Kosice. Buy Ice Hockey World Championships tickets now at StubHub, assured under our industry-first FanProtect Guarantee.

Ice Hockey World Championships: a place in hockey history at stake

Preceded by the European Championship which was held from 1910 to 1932, the first World Championship tournament was held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The first three championships were contested at the Olympics, while the first World Championships that were an individual event were held in 1930 in cities in France, Austria and Germany. The modern format for the World Championship features 16 teams in the championship group, 12 teams in Division I and 12 teams in Division II. If there are more than 40 teams, the rest compete in Division III. The teams in the championship play a preliminary round, then the top eight teams play in the playoff medal round and the winning team is crowned World Champion. 

Much in the same way that Canada had owned the three decades from the 1930s, the Soviet Union made the next three decades their own; winning 20 championships until the fall of the country in 1991. Russia won the event in 1993, while the following two decades has seen new champions Finland and Slovakia emerge. 

The current champions are Sweden, who beat Switzerland 3–2 in 2018. In doing so, Sweden won their second consecutive and eleventh overall title. Who will be crowned champion in 2019? Buy Ice Hockey World Championships tickets at StubHub and find out live. 

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