1998 IIHF World Championship
The 1998 IIHF World Championship was held in Switzerland from 1–17 May 1998. The format expanded to 16 teams for the first time. The teams were divided into four groups of four with the top two teams in each advancing to the next round. The two groups of four then played a round robin with the top two teams in each moving on to the semi-finals. The semi-finals were a two-game total goals for series as was the final. Qualifying Round (Austria). Played 6–9 November 1997 in Klagenfurt. The Kazakhs, Austrians, and Norwegians  finished virtually even. In head-to-head match-ups they each had one win and one loss, they each had scored as many as they had allowed. The Kazakhs scored six goals, the other two both five, pushing them to first. The Norwegians had beaten Poland by three, on the final day the Austrians pushed their advantage over Poland to four, giving them the final spot in the World Championship. "Kazakhstan and Austria advanced to Group A, Norway and Poland competed in Group B." First round. In each group, the top two nations advanced to the next round. Third place  teams played a final round against each other to determine who escaped having to qualify for next year's tournament. Fourth place teams did not play further, they were automatically entered in qualifiers for next year's tournament. The highlight of the round was the French victory of the US, the first ever in an official match. Group 1. "Japan was relegated to the qualifiers for the 1999 IIHF World Championship." Group 2. "Austria was relegated to the qualifiers for the 1999 IIHF World Championship." Group 3. "France was relegated to the qualifiers for the 1999 IIHF World Championship." Group  4. "Kazakhstan was relegated to the qualifiers for the 1999 IIHF World Championship." Consolation Round 9-12 Place. "Germany and the United States were relegated to the qualifiers for the 1999 IIHF World Championship." Second round. Group 2 and 3 first place teams played against group 1 and 4 second place teams in group 5, group 1 and 4 first place teams played against group 2 and 3 second place teams. The top two, from each group, advanced to the semi-finals. Ranking and statistics. Final standings. The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF: Scoring leaders. List shows  the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Leading goaltenders. Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.