# Men's World Floorball Championship

The Men's World Floorball Championship is an international floorball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Floorball Federation (IFF). It is held regularly in even years since 1996. In off years, the women's championship is played. The tournament takes place in December.
The reigning champions are Finland, who won their fifth title at the 2024 tournament in Sweden. The most successful country is Sweden, with 10 wins, the last in 2022, and participation in every final so far. The other medalists are the Czech Republic with two silvers from 2022 and 2004, Switzerland with one from 1998 and Norway with one bronze from 1996.
The next championship will take place in Finland in 2026.

## Format

There are 16 teams participating in the tournament. The host country is automatically guaranteed a spot, while the remaining 15 spots are determined through regional qualifiers. These qualifiers, typically comprising several European tournaments and one each for the Americas and Asia-Oceania, are held about a year before the championship.
The teams are then drawn into four groups (A–D), each consisting of four teams. Groups A and B are drawn from the top-ranked teams according to the IFF rankings, while Groups C and D are drawn from the remaining teams. Within a group, teams play against each other. The top two teams from Groups A and B advance directly to the quarter-finals. The other two teams from Groups A and B and the top two teams from Groups C and D compete in a playoff preliminary round.
Next, the playoffs are played by elimination. The eliminated teams, including the teams that did not qualify for the playoffs, participate in additional placement matches.
The entire tournament spans nine days, from one weekend to another.

## Format history

The first World Championship in 1996 was preceded by two editions of the European Championship.
Until the 2008 World Championship, with the exception of the first tournament, teams were divided into divisions (A, B, and later C). In Division A, teams competed in two groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals played in the final, while the losing teams contested the bronze medal match. The bottom teams of both groups played for relegation from Division A, while the winner of Division B was promoted.
Until the 2006 World Championship, the tournament was held in May.
Qualification was introduced for the 2010 World Championship, but only from 2014 onwards did all teams (except the host nation) have to qualify. Previously, the top teams from the previous championship received automatic qualification.
The current system, where the higher-ranked teams are placed into two groups and the remaining teams into two separate groups, was introduced at the 2014 World Championship, along with the playoff preliminary round.

## Tournaments

| Year | Final venue | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place |
| 1996 Details | Stockholm | Sweden | 5–0 | Finland | Norway | 6–2 | Czech Republic |
| 1998 Details | Prague | Sweden | 10–3 | Switzerland | Finland | 4–1 | Denmark |
| 2000 Details | Oslo | Sweden | 5–3 | Finland | Switzerland | 4–2 | Denmark |
| 2002 Details | Helsinki | Sweden | 6–4 | Finland | Switzerland | 4–3 OT | Czech Republic |
| 2004 Details | Zurich | Sweden | 6–4 | Czech Republic | Finland | 8–7 PSO | Switzerland |
| 2006 Details | Stockholm | Sweden | 7–6 OT | Finland | Switzerland | 9–4 | Czech Republic |
| 2008 Details | Prague | Finland | 7–6 OT | Sweden | Switzerland | 5–4 OT | Czech Republic |
| 2010 Details | Helsinki | Finland | 6–2 | Sweden | Czech Republic | 9–3 | Switzerland |
| 2012 Details | Zurich | Sweden | 11–5 | Finland | Switzerland | 8–0 | Germany |
| 2014 Details | Gothenburg | Sweden | 3–2 | Finland | Czech Republic | 4–3 | Switzerland |
| 2016 Details | Riga | Finland | 4–3 PSO | Sweden | Switzerland | 8–5 | Czech Republic |
| 2018 Details | Prague | Finland | 6–3 | Sweden | Switzerland | 4–2 | Czech Republic |
| 2020 Details | Helsinki | Sweden | 6–4 | Finland | Czech Republic | 4–3 OT | Switzerland |
| 2022 Details | Zurich | Sweden | 9–3 | Czech Republic | Finland | 5–3 | Switzerland |
| 2024 Details | Malmö | Finland | 5–4 OT | Sweden | Czech Republic | 8–2 | Latvia |
| 2026 Details | Tampere | | | | | | |

## Medal table

| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Medals |
| 1 | Sweden | 10 | 5 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Finland | 5 | 7 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 5 | Norway | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 15 | 15 | 15 | 45 |

### Participation details

| Team | 1996 | 1998 | 2000 | 2002 | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 | 2024 | Years |
| Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14th | - | 14th | 15th | 12th | WD | 13th | 15th | 6 |
| Austria | - | - | - | - | 10th | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Canada | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11th | 13th | 12th | 12th | 11th | 12th | 12th | 16th | 8 |
| Czech Republic | 4th | 6th | 6th | 4th | 2nd | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 7th | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 15 |
| Denmark | 7th | 4th | 4th | 6th | 9th | 6th | 9th | 13th | - | 7th | 5th | 8th | 10th | 10th | 10th | 14 |
| Estonia | 11th | - | - | - | - | - | 8th | 7th | 9th | 8th | 8th | 10th | 8th | 9th | 9th | 9 |
| Finland | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 15 |
| Germany | 8th | 8th | - | 8th | 8th | 10th | - | 10th | 4th | 9th | 7th | 6th | 9th | 6th | 8th | 13 |
| Hungary | 10th | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14th | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| Italy | - | - | - | - | - | 8th | 10th | 12th | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| Japan | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15th | 15th | 15th | - | 15th | WD | - | - | 4 |
| Latvia | 9th | - | 7th | 7th | 6th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 6th | 5th | 10th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 4th | 14 |
| Norway | 3rd | 5th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 7th | 6th | 6th | 5th | 6th | 6th | 7th | 6th | 8th | 7th | 15 |
| Philippines | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14th | 15th | 11th | 3 |
| Poland | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9th | 11th | - | 13th | 13th | 11th | 11th | 12th | 7 |
| Russia | 6th | 7th | 8th | - | 7th | 9th | 7th | 8th | 10th | 13th | - | - | - | - | - | 9 |
| Singapore | 12th | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16th | 16th | - | 16th | 16th | 16th | 16th | - | 7 |
| Slovakia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8th | 10th | 9th | 9th | 7th | 7th | 6th | 7 |
| Slovenia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13th | 1 |
| South Korea | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16th | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Sweden | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 15 |
| Switzerland | 5th | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 5th | 15 |
| Thailand | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14th | 14th | 13th | 14th | 14th | 5 |
| United States | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12th | 11th | 11th | - | 15th | - | - | 4 |
| Debuts | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Cumulative | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 24 | |

## Gallery

* Trophy for the winner of the 2018 World Championship
* O$_2$ arena in Prague during the 2018 World Championship
* Final match Finland–Sweden at the 2018 World Championship
* Swiss Life Arena during the 2022 World Championship
* Match Finland–Switzerland at the 2022 World Championship
* Swedish fans at the final match of the 2022 World Championship
* Czech national team after winning the semifinal at the 2022 World Championship
* All-Star Team of the 2022 World Championship
* Malmö Arena ready for the first match of the 2024 World Championship Latvia–Finland
* Malmö Arena before the Sweden–Slovakia match at the 2024 World Championship