1996 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships

1–5

22 April

6–2

Slovakia

23 April

4–2

Germany

23 April

0–4

Canada

24 April

Germany

5–1

Canada

25 April

2–1

Slovakia

25 April

1–3

Russia

26 April

0–3

Germany

26 April

6–4

Canada

27 April

4–3

Slovakia

28 April

0–6

Russia

28 April

Canada

5–1

29 April

Slovakia

4–1

Germany

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Czech Republic	5	4	1	0	27	12	+15	9
2	Finland	5	2	2	1	23	15	+8	6
3	Sweden	5	2	2	1	14	12	+2	6
4	Italy	5	2	1	2	20	26	−6	5
5	Norway	5	1	2	2	6	11	−5	4
6	France	5	0	0	5	12	26	−14	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

21 April

3–1

Sweden

21 April

1–1

Norway

22 April

France

5–6

Italy

23 April

Italy

4–0

Norway

23 April

2–4

24 April

Sweden

2–1

France

24 April

Norway

2–2

25 April

France

3–6

Finland

25 April

Sweden

3–3

Italy

26 April

Italy

2–9

Finland

27 April

9–2

France

27 April

Sweden

3–0

Norway

28 April

Italy

5–9

28 April

5–5

Sweden

29 April

Norway

3–1

France

Playoff round

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final

30 April

United States	3
		3 May
Sweden	2
		United States	0
1 May
		Czech Republic	5
Czech Republic	6
				5 May
Germany	1
				Czech Republic	4
30 April
				Canada	2
Finland	1
		3 May
Canada	3
		Canada (GWS)	3
1 May
		Russia	2	Third place
Russia	5
				4 May
Italy	2
				Russia	3

				United States (OT)	4

Quarterfinals

30 April

3–2

Sweden

30 April

1–3

Canada

1 May

5–2

Italy

1 May

6–1

Germany

Consolation round 11–12 place

1 May

3–6

France

2 May

3–6

France

Austria was relegated to Group B.

Semifinals

3 May

0–5

3 May

Canada

3–2 (GWS)

Russia

Match for third place

4 May

3–4 (OT)

United States

Final

5 May
15:00

Czech Republic

4–2
(1–1, 1–1, 2–0)

Canada

Wiener Stadthalle, Wien
Attendance: 9,500

Roman Turek

Goalies

Curtis Joseph

Referee:

Müller
Linesmen:

Rautavuori

Rönnmark

	0–1	05:29 − Steve Thomas
Robert Lang – 07:49	1–1
Robert Lang – 26:02	2–1
	2–2	29:40 − Steve Thomas
Martin Procházka – 59:41	3–2
Jiří Kučera – 59:54	4–2

World Championship Group B (Netherlands)

Played 10–20 April in Eindhoven. Latvia won at this level for the first time. In their final game, superb goaltending by Artūrs Irbe kept them in it, and a late tying goal by Oļegs Znaroks sealed the tournament victory.^[3] The final game had high drama for the host crowd, the Japanese and Danish teams among them. If the Netherlands were to lose to Poland, they would finish last and be relegated, a tie and Japan would be last, a win and Denmark would be last. A third period goal by Poland sealed Japan's fate.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
13	Latvia	7	6	1	0	41	16	+25	13
14	Switzerland	7	5	1	1	37	13	+24	11
15	Belarus	7	5	0	2	29	18	+11	10
16	Great Britain	7	4	1	2	29	23	+6	9
17	Poland	7	1	2	4	18	27	−9	4
18	Denmark	7	1	1	5	14	32	−18	3^[a]
19	Netherlands	7	1	1	5	12	35	−23	3^[b]
20	Japan	7	0	3	4	14	30	−16	3^[c]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ 3 head-to-head points
^ 2 head-to-head points
^ 1 head-to-head point

Latvia was promoted to Group A while Japan was relegated to Group C.

10 April

6–5

10 April

3–3

Japan

10 April

0–3

Denmark

10 April

2–4

Belarus

11 April

Japan

1–6

Latvia

11 April

2–7

Switzerland

12 April

Denmark

3–4

Poland

12 April

2–3

Belarus

13 April

5–3

Denmark

13 April

7–2

Japan

13 April

4–2

Poland

14 April

2–6

14 April

4–1

Belarus

15 April

Denmark

1–10

Switzerland

15 April

3–6

Belarus

15 April

Japan

1–2

16 April

4–2

Poland

16 April

Japan

3–3

17 April

Belarus

6–1

Denmark

17 April

5–1

18 April

2–5

Switzerland

18 April

3–15

Latvia

19 April

Belarus

7–2

Japan

19 April

5–1

Denmark

20 April

Belarus

2–4

20 April

Denmark

2–2

Japan

20 April

1–1

Latvia

20 April

2–2

World Championship Group C (Slovenia)

Played 22–31 March in Jesenice and Kranj. For the fourth year in row the Kazakhs and Ukrainians met in Group C. For the first time the Kazakhs came out on top, and it was the difference in winning the tournament.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
21	Kazakhstan	7	6	0	1	51	10	+41	12
22	Ukraine	7	6	0	1	40	13	+27	12
23	Slovenia	7	5	0	2	41	19	+22	10
24	Hungary	7	3	1	3	34	25	+9	7
25	Estonia	7	3	1	3	36	29	+7	7
26	Romania	7	3	0	4	32	27	+5	6
27	China	7	1	0	6	17	68	−51	2
28	Croatia	7	0	0	7	11	71	−60	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Kazakhstan was promoted to Group B while Croatia was relegated to Group D.

22 March

9–2

Croatia

22 March

Estonia

13–2

China

22 March

4–1

Hungary

22 March

2–4

23 March

Hungary

2–7

23 March

4–1

Romania

23 March

China

2–7

Ukraine

23 March

Estonia

10–2

Croatia

25 March

6–3

Estonia

25 March

11–1

Croatia

25 March

3–5

Hungary

25 March

15–0

China

26 March

China

3–11

Romania

26 March

12–0

Croatia

26 March

Hungary

5–5

Estonia

26 March

2–4

Ukraine

28 March

2–3

Estonia

28 March

Croatia

4–6

China

28 March

3–2

Ukraine

28 March

4–3

Hungary

29 March

7–2

Romania

29 March

Croatia

0–10

Hungary

29 March

Estonia

0–7

29 March

10–2

China

31 March

5–2

Estonia

31 March

13–2

Croatia

31 March

4–3

31 March

China

2–8

Hungary

World Championship Group D (Lithuania)

Played in Kaunas and Elektrenai 25–31 March. To narrow the field of the bottom tier to eight nations, two regional qualifying tournaments were used.

Qualifying round

Group 1 (Australia)

Played 5 and 6 November 1995 in Sydney.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Australia	2	2	0	0	12	2	+10	4
2	New Zealand	2	0	0	2	2	12	−10	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

5 November 1995

Australia

6–0

New Zealand

6 November 1995

Australia

6–2

New Zealand

Group 2 (Israel)

Played 27–29 January 1996 in Metulla.

The Greek team originally won both their games, but it was later found that they had used ineligible players. Both games were declared 5–0 forfeits in favour of the opposing team.^[3]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Israel	2	2	0	24	0	+24	4
2	Turkey	2	1	1	5	19	−14	2
3	Greece	2	0	2	0	10	−10	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

27 January 1996

1–4
5–0 by default

Greece

28 January 1996

Turkey

0–19
5–0 by default

Greece

29 January 1996

19–0

Turkey

First round

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Yugoslavia	3	3	0	0	14	5	+9	6
2	Spain	3	1	1	1	15	6	+9	3
3	South Korea	3	1	1	1	15	10	+5	3
4	Australia	3	0	0	3	8	31	−23	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

25 March

7–1

Australia

25 March

Spain

1–1

26 March

Spain

11–1

Australia

26 March

3–1

27 March

13–6

Australia

27 March

4–3

Spain

Group 2

The Israeli team, that had qualified for the tournament after the Greek forfeits, had to forfeit its first two games because they used two Russian players who did not have the proper clearance to play.^[3]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Lithuania	3	3	0	19	2	+17	6
2	Belgium	3	2	1	10	13	−3	4
3	Bulgaria	3	1	2	7	6	+1	2
4	Israel	3	0	3	0	15	−15	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

25 March

Bulgaria

3–3
5–0 by default

Israel

25 March

11–2

Belgium

26 March

Belgium

3–2

Bulgaria

26 March

7–2
5–0 by default

Israel

27 March

Belgium

5–0

Israel

27 March

3–0

Bulgaria

Final Round 29–32 Place

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
29	Lithuania	3	3	0	25	4	+21	6
30	Yugoslavia	3	2	1	10	8	+2	4
31	Spain	3	1	2	10	16	−6	2
32	Belgium	3	0	3	5	22	−17	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Host Lithuania won all five games to earn promotion to Group C.

29 March

5–2

Belgium

29 March

11–1

Spain

31 March

Spain

6–1

Belgium

31 March

3–1

Consolation round 33–36 place

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
33	South Korea	3	2	1	0	22	13	+9	5
34	Bulgaria	3	2	0	1	14	10	+4	4
35	Israel	3	1	1	1	10	10	0	3
36	Australia	3	0	0	3	12	25	−13	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

28 March

Bulgaria

5–4

Australia

28 March

3–3

30 March

7–2

Australia

30 March