Bandy World Championship facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bandy World Championship

Sport	Bandy
Inaugural season	1957
No. of teams	10 (2025)
Countries	Worldwide
Most recent champion(s)	Sweden (14th title)
Most titles	Soviet Union  Sweden (14 titles each)

In 2019, a record 20 countries played in the World Championships. Blue shows Division A countries, red is for Division B, and green shows other members of the FIB.

The outdoor arena in Västerås, Sweden. This is where Finland won its first and only title in 2004.

The Bandy World Championship is the top international tournament for men's national bandy teams. Bandy is a fast-paced winter sport played on ice with a ball, similar to ice hockey. The Federation of International Bandy (FIB) runs the championship every year.

This event is for national teams, not to be confused with the Bandy World Cup, which is for club teams. There are also separate world championships for women's and youth teams.

Some tournaments in the early 2020s were postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the championship was also canceled after Finland and Sweden decided not to play. Since then, Russia has not participated in the tournaments.

History of the Championship

Zinkensdamms IP in Stockholm, Sweden, was the location for the final match in the 2006 championship.

ABB Arena Syd in Västerås, Sweden, hosted the championship in 2009.

Even though people have played bandy since the 1800s, the first men's World Championship didn't happen until 1957. The first women's championship was held much later, in 2004.

Before the official championship, the Nordic countries often played friendly matches against each other. In 1952, bandy was even a demonstration sport at the Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, but it wasn't for a world title.

A key moment came in 1954 when the Soviet Union played against other countries for the first time in a tournament in Moscow. This led to the creation of the Federation of International Bandy in 1955. The first official Bandy World Championship was held in 1957 in Helsinki, Finland.

From 1961 to 2003, the championships were held every two years. Since 2003, they have been an annual event.

Which Countries Compete?

For many years, only four countries played in the World Championship: the Soviet Union, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. The Soviet Union was the most dominant team.

Over time, more countries joined in. The United States started competing in 1985. After the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, former Soviet republics like Russia and Kazakhstan formed their own national teams.

The sport has grown in popularity across Europe, North America, and Asia. In 2014, Somalia became the first African team to participate. The record for the most teams in one tournament was set in 2019, with 20 countries competing.

How the Tournament Works

With so many teams, the championship is split into groups to make the competition fair.

• Group A has the top-ranked teams.
• Group B has the other teams.

The winner of Group B can be promoted to Group A for the next year's tournament. The team that finishes last in Group A is moved down to Group B. This system helps keep the matches exciting and competitive. The number of groups can change from year to year depending on how many countries participate.

Medal Winners

Here is a list of the top three teams (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) from each championship since the first one in 1957.

Year	Host	Gold Medal	Silver Medal	Bronze Medal	Teams
1957	Finland	Soviet Union	Finland	Sweden	3
1961	Norway	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	4
1963	Sweden	Soviet Union	Finland	Sweden	4
1965	Soviet Union	Soviet Union	Norway	Sweden	4
1967	Finland	Soviet Union	Finland	Sweden	4
1969	Sweden	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	3
1971	Sweden	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	4
1973	Soviet Union	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	4
1975	Finland	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	4
1977	Norway	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	4
1979	Sweden	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	4
1981	Soviet Union	Sweden	Soviet Union	Finland	4
1983	Finland	Sweden	Soviet Union	Finland	4
1985	Norway	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	5
1987	Sweden	Sweden	Finland	Soviet Union	5
1989	Soviet Union	Soviet Union	Finland	Sweden	5
1991	Finland	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	8
1993	Norway	Sweden	Russia	Norway	8
1995	United States	Sweden	Russia	Finland	8
1997	Sweden	Sweden	Russia	Finland	9
1999	Russia	Russia	Finland	Sweden	6
2001	Finland &  Sweden	Russia	Sweden	Finland	7
2003	Russia	Sweden	Russia	Kazakhstan	9
2004	Sweden &  Hungary	Finland	Sweden	Russia	11
2005	Russia	Sweden	Russia	Kazakhstan	11
2006	Sweden	Russia	Sweden	Finland	12
2007	Russia	Russia	Sweden	Finland	12
2008	Russia	Russia	Sweden	Finland	13
2009	Sweden	Sweden	Russia	Finland	13
2010	Russia	Sweden	Russia	Finland	11
2011	Russia	Russia	Finland	Sweden	11
2012	Kazakhstan	Sweden	Russia	Kazakhstan	14
2013	Sweden &  Norway	Russia	Sweden	Kazakhstan	14
2014	Russia	Russia	Sweden	Kazakhstan	17
2015	Russia	Russia	Sweden	Kazakhstan	16
2016	Russia	Russia	Finland	Sweden	18
2017	Sweden	Sweden	Russia	Finland	18
2018	Russia &  China	Russia	Sweden	Finland	16
2019	Sweden	Russia	Sweden	Finland	20
2020	Russia	"A" Division cancelled				10
2022	Russia	Cancelled
2023	Sweden	Sweden	Finland	Norway	11
2025	Sweden	Sweden	Finland	Norway	10

All-Time Medal Count

This table shows the total number of gold, silver, and bronze medals each country has won.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sweden	14	19	8	41
2	Soviet Union (Soviet Union)	14	2	1	17
3	Russia	12	9	1	22
4	Finland	1	10	22	33
5	Norway	0	1	3	4
6	Kazakhstan	0	0	6	6
Totals (6 entries)		41	41	41	123

Note: The Soviet Union team no longer competes.

Images for kids

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  Medeu was the main arena for the championships in 2012. This picture is from the 2011 Asian Winter Games final.

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  The reserve field of Almaty Central Stadium was used for Division B and C games in 2012. Here is the Canadian team.

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  Arena Vänersborg in Sweden, the main location for the 2013 championship.

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  Arena Yerofey, where the final of the 2015 championship was played.

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  Trud Stadium, the site of the 2016 championship final.

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  Kyrgyzstan and Japan were newcomers in 2012. Here, Kyrgyzstan defends its goal during a corner stroke from Japan.