WIHF World Cup of Hockey
| Most recent season or competition: 2032 World Cup of Hockey | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1972 |
| Inaugural season | 1972 |
| No. of teams | 24 |
| Most recent champion(s) | Yonderre (3rd title) (2032) |
| Most titles | Kiravia (4 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | Varies by country |
The WIHF World Cup of Hockey, marketed as the World Cup of Hockey and WCH, is a quadrennial international ice hockey tournament, contested by all senior men's national teams affiliated with the World Ice Hockey Federation (WIHF), the sports governing body. Since the tournament's inauguration in 1972, the World Cup of Hockey has been held every four years, and is the most watched ice hockey tournament in the world.
Similar to the WAFF World Cup for association football, the current WCH format involves a qualification phase, which takes place over the preceding three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase. In the qualification phase, every WIHF-affiliated country competes in their respective continental association's qualifying stage, where a set number of nations are able to qualify for the final tournament. In the tournament phase, 24 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over about a month, typically beginning in mid-July, and the final taking place in mid-August.
The World Cup of Hockey is the most prestigious ice hockey tournament in the world, as well as one of the most widely viewed and followed single sporting event in the world. The cumulative viewership of all matches of the 2032 World Cup of Hockey was estimated to be 7.4 billion, along with an estimated 644.3 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet.
Format
Host
Editions
| No. | Name | Host | Continent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1972 World Cup of Hockey |  Urcea
|
Levantia | First World Cup of Hockey, first World Cup of Hockey in Levantia |
| 2 | 1976 World Cup of Hockey |  Yonderre
|
Levantia | First World Cup of Hockey to be won by the host nation |
| 3 | 1980 World Cup of Hockey |  Caphiria
|
Sarpedon | First World Cup in Sarpedon; boycotted by Urcea |
| 4 | 1984 World Cup of Hockey |  Tierrador
|
Crona | First World Cup of Hockey in Crona, first time a previous winner (Kiravia) wins the trophy again |
| 5 | 1988 World Cup of Hockey |  Ardmore
|
Levantia | |
| 6 | 1992 World Cup of Hockey |  Daxia and  Metzetta
|
Audonia | First World Cup of Hockey in Audonia, first World Cup of Hockey with shared hosting duties |
| 7 | 1996 World Cup of Hockey |  Kiravia
|
Great Kirav | |
| 8 | 2000 World Cup of Hockey |  Faneria
|
Levantia | |
| 9 | 2004 World Cup of Hockey | Tierrador and  Ceylonia
|
Crona | Most recent World Cup of Hockey with shared hosting duties |
| 10 | 2008 World Cup of Hockey | Yonderre
|
Crona | |
| 11 | 2012 World Cup of Hockey |  Cartadania
|
Sarpedon | |
| 12 | 2016 World Cup of Hockey | Urcea
|
Levantia | |
| 13 | 2020 World Cup of Hockey |  Burgundie
|
Levantia | |
| 14 | 2024 World Cup of Hockey |  Alstin
|
Crona | |
| 15 | 2028 World Cup of Hockey |  Fiannria
|
Levantia | Most recent World Cup of Hockey in Levantia |
| 16 | 2032 World Cup of Hockey |  Volonia
|
Sarpedon | Most recent World Cup of Hockey in Sarpedon |
| 17 | 2036 World Cup of Hockey |  Porlos
|
Crona | Most recent World Cup of Hockey in Crona |
| 18 | 2040 World Cup of Hockey | Not yet announced | Not yet held |
Results
| No. | Name | Host | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Notes | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1972 World Cup of Hockey | Urcea
|
Fiannria
|
2–0 | Urcea
|
Tierrador
|
3–2/OT | Yonderre
|
||
| 2 | 1976 World Cup of Hockey | Yonderre
|
Yonderre
|
4–2 | Kiravia
|
Caphiria
|
6–4 | Urcea
|
||
| 3 | 1980 World Cup of Hockey | Caphiria
|
Kiravia
|
5–3 | Porlos
|
Caphiria
|
3–0 |  Delepasia
|
||
| 4 | 1984 World Cup of Hockey | Tierrador
|
Kiravia
|
2–1 |  Paulastra
|
Yonderre
|
3–1 | Alstin
|
||
| 5 | 1988 World Cup of Hockey | Ardmore
|
Urcea
|
7–0 | Alstin
|
Largest margin of victory in the Final | Kiravia
|
4–2 | Volonia
|
|
| 6 | 1992 World Cup of Hockey | Daxia and Metzetta
|
Faneria
|
4–3 | Yonderre
|
Metzetta
|
2–1 | Tierrador
|
||
| 7 | 1996 World Cup of Hockey | Kiravia
|
Kiravia
|
7–5 | Caphiria
|
Porlos
|
6–3 | Fiannria
|
||
| 8 | 2000 World Cup of Hockey | Faneria
|
Urcea
|
3–1 | Ardmore
|
Burgundie
|
4–0 | Volonia
|
||
| 9 | 2004 World Cup of Hockey | Tierrador and Ceylonia
|
Tierrador
|
4–2 | Yonderre
|
Ceylonia
|
2–1 | Burgundie
|
||
| 10 | 2008 World Cup of Hockey | Yonderre
|
Yonderre
|
4–3 | Tierrador
|
Urcea
|
7–4 | Kiravia
|
||
| 11 | 2012 World Cup of Hockey | Cartadania
|
Porlos
|
3–2/2OT | Cartadania
|
Longest Final in World Cup of Hockey history First Final to go into overtime |
Kiravia
|
5–4/OT | Tierrador
|
|
| 12 | 2016 World Cup of Hockey | Urcea
|
Tierrador
|
4–3/OT | Alstin
|
 Castadilla
|
5–2 | Yonderre
|
||
| 13 | 2020 World Cup of Hockey | Burgundie
|
Kiravia
|
8–6 | Burgundie
|
Most goals scored in a Final | Paulastra
|
1–0 | Cartadania
|
|
| 14 | 2024 World Cup of Hockey | Alstin
|
Tierrador
|
3–1 |  Pelaxia
|
Alstin
|
5–0 | Burgundie
|
||
| 15 | 2028 World Cup of Hockey | Fiannria
|
Burgundie
|
2–0 | Yonderre
|
Faneria
|
1–0/OT | Fiannria
|
||
| 16 | 2032 World Cup of Hockey | Volonia
|
Yonderre
|
6–5/OT | Fiannria
|
Faneria
|
3–1 | Volonia
|