1998 World Championship

The 1998 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships were held in Switzerland from May 1-17, 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.

Group A
Czech Republic 8-2 Japan

Belarus 4-2 Germany

Belarus 2-4 Czech Republic

Germany 5-1 Japan

Japan 4-6 Belarus

Czech Republic 8-1 Germany

Czech Republic and Belarus advanced to the next round, Germany is sent to the Qualification round.

Group B
Canada 5-1 Austria

Italy 1-2 Slovakia

Slovakia 2-2 Canada

Italy 5-1 Austria

Austria 1-5 Slovakia

Canada 5-2 Italy

Canada and Slovakia advanced to the next round. Italy is sent to the Qualification round.

Group C
USA 5-2 Switzerland

Sweden 6-1 France

France 3-1 USA

Sweden 4-2 Switzerland

USA 1-6 Sweden

Switzerland 5-1 France

Sweden and Switzerland advanced to the next round. USA is sent to the Qualification round.

Group D
Russia 8-4 Kazakhstan

Finland 6-0 Latvia

Latvia 5-7 Russia

Finland 4-0 Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan 2-7 Latvia

Russia 4-2 Finland

Russia and Finland advanced to the next round. Latvia is sent to the Qualification round.

Qualification Round
USA 1-1 Germany

Italy 1-1 Latvia

Italy 4-0 USA

Germany 0-5 Latvia

Germany 4-4 Italy

Latvia 3-2 USA

Group E
Sweden 1-0 Finland

Belarus 2-6 Canada

Canada 3-3 Finland

Sweden 2-1 Belarus

Canada 1-7 Sweden

Finland 5-2 Belarus

Sweden and Finland advanced to the semi-finals.

Group F
Slovakia 0-1 Czech Republic

Russia 2-4 Switzerland

Czech Republic 3-1 Switzerland

Russia 6-1 Slovakia

Czech Republic 2-2 Russia

Switzerland 1-1 Slovakia

Czech Republic and Switzerland advanced to the semi-finals.

Semi-Finals
Sweden 4-1 Switzerland

Switzerland 2-7 Sweden

Czech Republic 1-4 Finland

Finland 2-2 Czech Republic

Bronze Medal Match
Czech Republic 4-0 Switzerland

Gold Medal Match
Finland 0-1 Sweden

Sweden 0-0 Finland

Team Photos
=Team rosters=

Sweden
1. Goaltenders: Tommy Salo, Johan Hedberg, Thomas Eriksson. Defenders: Mattias Öhlund, Kim Johnsson, Jan Mertzig, Niclas Hävelid, Mattias Norström, Hans Jonsson, Johan Tornberg. Forwards: Christer Olsson, Anders Huusko, Mikael Johansson, Tommy Westlund, Mats Sundin, Nichlas Falk, Jonas Bergqvist, Mikael Renberg, Peter Forsberg, Ulf Dahlén, Peter Nordström, Patric Kjellberg, Jörgen Jönsson, Fredrik Modin, Niklas Sundström. Coaches: Kent Forsberg, Tommy Tomth.

Finland
2. Goaltenders: Ari Sulander, Jarmo Myllys, Vesa Toskala. Defencemen: Kimmo Timonen, Jere Karalahti, Marko Kiprusoff, Toni Lydman, Janne Laukkanen, Petteri Nummelin, Antti-Jussi Niemi, Kaj Linna. Forwards: Raimo Helminen, Ville Peltonen, Sami Kapanen, Antti Törmänen, Juah Ikonen, Mika Alatalo, Mikko Eloranta, Kimmo Rintanen, Jarkko Ruutu, Joni Lius, Olli Jokinen, Marko Tuomainen, Toni Mäkiaho. Coaches: Hannu Aravirta, Esko Nokelainen, Jari Kaarela.

Czech Republic
3. Goaltenders: Milan Hnilička, Roman Čechmánek, Martin Prusek. Defencemen: František Kučera, František Kaberle, Jiří Vykoukal, Libor Procházka, Robert Kántor, Jiří Šlégr, Jiří Veber, Václav Burda. Forwards: Radek Bělohlav, Pavel Patera, Martin Procházka, David Výborný, Ladislav Lubina, Jiří Dopita, Marián Kacíř, Jan Hlaváč, Robert Reichel, Petr Sýkora, Josef Beránek, David Moravec, Patrik Eliáš, Milan Hejduk. Coaches: Ivan Hlinka, Slavomír Lener, Vladimír Martinec.

Russia
5. Goaltenders: Yegor Podomatsky, Maxim Sokolov, Oleg Shevtsov. Defencemen: Marat Davydov, Sergei Fokin, Dmitri Yerofeyev, Dmitri Yushkevich, Daniil Markov, Andrei Skopintsev, Sergei Zhukov. Forwards: Sergei Berezin, Oleg Belov, Aleksei Chupin, Alexei Kovalev, Viktor Kozlov, Alexei Kudashov, Aleksey Morozov, Andrei Nazarov, Sergei Nemchinov, Sergei Petrenko, Oleg Petrov, Vitali Prokhorov, Mikhail Sarmatin. Coach: Alexander Yakushev.

Slovakia
7. Goaltenders: Pavol Rybár, Miroslav Šimonovič, Miroslav Michalek. Defencemen: Jerguš Bača, Róbert Pukalovič, Ľubomír Višňovský, Ľubomír Sekeráš, Stanislav Jasečko, Ivan Droppa, Róbert Švehla. Forwards: Roman Stantien, Peter Pucher, Jozef Stümpel, René Pucher, Jozef Voskár, Zdeno Cíger, Branislav Jánoš, Igor Rataj, Ján Pardavý, Peter Bartoš, Radoslav Kropáč, Richard Kapuš, Jozef Daňo. Coaches: Ján Šterbák, František Hossa.