1987 World Championship

The 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 52nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was also the 63rd ice hockey European Championships. Teams representing 24 countries participated in four levels of competition.

In the Division A Championship held April 17 to May 3 in Vienna, Austria, each team played each other once in the preliminary round. The four best placed teams then played each other once in a championship round and, in contrast to previous tournaments, the first round of results were not counted. Sweden won the gold medal for the fourth time and the Soviet Union won their 25th European title. In the European Championships, only the games between European teams counted. Switzerland was demoted to Division B.

In the Division B competition, Poland was promoted to the Division A Championship, while the Netherlands and China were demoted to Division C. In the Division C competition, Denmark and Japan were promoted, Belgium and Romania, by their own decision due to economic reasons, relegated to Division D. Australia won Division D and was promoted along with South Korea to Division C.

Results
All times local (GMT+1)

Relegation round
The top three teams in the standings after the round-robin were invited back to the 1988 World Championships, while the last placed team was relegated to the 1988 Division B Tournament.

Results from preliminary round games among the relegation round teams carry over.

Results
All times local (GMT+1)

Championship round
The top team in the standings after the round-robin was titled the World Champion. The results from the preliminary round were not carried over to the championship round.

Results
All times local (GMT+1)

Final standings
The final standings of the tournament.

European Championship final standings
The final standings of the European teams in the tournament.

Division B
The Division B tournament was held in Canazei, Italy, from March 26 to April 5. Poland was promoted to the Division A tournament in 1988, while Netherlands and China were relegated to the Division C tournament.

Division C
The Division C tournament was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from March 20 to March 29. Japan and Denmark were promoted to the Division B tournament in 1988, while Belgium and Romania were relegated to the Division D tournament. Due to economic reasons, Romania chose to be relegated instead of Bulgaria.

Division D
The Division D tournament was held in Perth, Australia, from March 13 to March 19. Australia and South Korea were promoted to the Division C tournament in 1988.