1981 World Championship

The 1981 Ice Hockey World Championships took place at the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg, Sweden from 12 April to the 26 April. Eight teams took part, firstly splitting into two groups of two, with the best two from each group advancing to the final group. These teams then play each other in the final round. This was the 47th World Championships, and also the 58th ice hockey European Championships. The Soviet Union became World Champions for the 17th time, and also won their twentieth European title.

World Championship Group A (Sweden)[]

First Round[]

Group 1[]

	Team	Games	Won	Lost	Points difference	Points
1	Soviet Union	3	3	0	25 - 04	6
2	Canada	3	2	1	14 - 12	4
3	Finland	3	1	2	16 - 14	2
4	Netherlands	3	0	3	05 - 30	0

12 April
	Canada	4-3	Finland

12 April
	Soviet Union	10-1	Netherlands

13 April
	Canada	8-1	Netherlands

13 April
	Soviet Union	7-1	Finland

15 April
	Soviet Union	8-2	Canada

15 April
	Finland	12-3	Netherlands

Group 2[]

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1	Czechoslovakia	3	2	1	0	20 - 07	5
2	Sweden	3	2	1	0	11 - 07	5
3	United States	3	1	0	2	14 - 21	2
4	West Germany	3	0	0	3	10 - 20	0

12 April
	Czechoslovakia	11-2	United States

12 April
	Sweden	4-2	West Germany

14 April
	Sweden	4-2	United States

14 April
	Czechoslovakia	6-2	West Germany

15 April
	Czechoslovakia	3-3	Sweden

15 April
	United States	10-6	West Germany

Final Round[]

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1	Soviet Union	6	4	2	0	38 - 12	10
2	Sweden	6	3	1	2	16 - 26	7
3	Czechoslovakia	6	2	2	2	20 - 22	6
4	Canada	6	0	1	5	16 - 30	1

18 April
	Czechoslovakia	7-4	Canada

18 April
	Soviet Union	4-1	Sweden

20 April
	Sweden	3-1	Canada

20 April
	Soviet Union	8-3	Czechoslovakia

22 April
	Canada	4-4	Soviet Union

22 April
	Sweden	4-2	Czechoslovakia

24 April
	Czechoslovakia	4-2	Canada

24 April
	Soviet Union	13-1	Sweden

26 April
	Sweden	4-3	Canada

26 April
	Soviet Union	1-1	Czechoslovakia

Consolation Round[]

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
5	United States	6	4	1	1	35 - 28	9
6	Finland	6	3	2	1	33 - 21	8
7	West Germany	6	3	1	2	40 - 30	7
8	Netherlands	6	0	0	6	22 - 51	0

17 April
	United States	7-6	Netherlands

17 April
	Finland	6-3	West Germany

19 April
	West Germany	9-2	Netherlands

19 April
	United States	6-4	Finland

21 April
	West Germany	6-2	United States

21 April
	Finland	4-2	Netherlands

23 April
	United States	7-3	Netherlands

23 April
	West Germany	4-4	Finland

25 April
	West Germany	12-6	Netherlands

25 April
	Finland	3-3	United States

World Championship Group B (Italy)[]

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
9	Italy	7	6	1	0	38 - 18	13
10	Poland	7	5	1	1	49 - 25	11
11	Switzerland	7	4	2	1	28 - 20	10
12	East Germany	7	4	1	2	37 - 25	9
13	Romania	7	2	0	5	25 - 30	4
14	Norway	7	2	0	5	21 - 39	4
15	Yugoslavia	7	1	1	5	23 - 44	3
16	Japan	7	1	0	6	18 - 38	2

20 March
	East Germany	4-3	Japan

26 March
	Romania	5-6	Poland

20 March
	Switzerland	5-2	Norway

20 March
	Italy	6-4	Yugoslavia

21 March
	Switzerland	3-3	Poland

21 March
	Japan	0-2	Norway

21 March
	East Germany	11-3	Yugoslavia

21 March
	Italy	3-2	Romania

23 March
	Romania	1-6	East Germany

23 March
	Poland	13-4	Norway

23 March
	Japan	7-3	Yugoslavia

23 March
	Italy	4-2	Switzerland

24 March
	Japan	2-11	Poland

24 March
	Yugoslavia	3-2	Romania

24 March
	Italy	6-1	Norway

24 March
	Switzerland	2-1	East Germany

26 March
	Yugoslavia	4-4	Switzerland

26 March
	Romania	5-1	Japan

26 March
	East Germany	6-3	Norway

26 March
	Italy	4-1	Poland

28 March
	Norway	6-2	Yugoslavia

28 March
	Switzerland	8-3	Romania

28 March
	East Germany	3-7	Poland

28 March
	Italy	9-2	Japan

29 March
	Yugoslavia	4-8	Poland

29 March
	Norway	3-7	Romania

29 March
	Switzerland	4-3	Japan

29 March
	Italy	6-6	East Germany

World Championship Group C (China PR)[]

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
17	Austria	7	7	0	0	43 - 05	14
18	China	7	6	0	1	46 - 14	12
19	Hungary	7	4	1	2	38 - 22	9
20	Denmark	7	3	1	3	36 - 27	7
21	France	7	3	0	4	48 - 36	6
22	Bulgaria	7	3	0	4	22 - 32	6
23	North Korea	7	1	0	6	18 - 66	2
24	Great Britain	7	0	0	7	11 - 60	0

06 March
	Austria	10-0	North Korea

06 March
	Hungary	8-0	Great Britain

06 March
	France	7-0	Bulgaria

06 March
	China	5-1	Denmark

07 March
	Great Britain	2-11	France

07 March
	China	6-2	Bulgaria

07 March
	North Korea	5-9	Denmark

07 March
	Austria	7-0	Hungary

09 March
	Hungary	10-3	North Korea

09 March
	Denmark	4-6	Bulgaria

09 March
	France	1-7	Austria

09 March
	China	12-2	Great Britain

10 March
	Hungary	11-6	France

10 March
	North Korea	2-9	Bulgaria

10 March
	Great Britain	2-13	Denmark

10 March
	China	0-3	Austria

12 March
	Bulgaria	4-2	Great Britain

12 March
	France	17-1	North Korea

12 March
	Austria	4-2	Denmark

12 March
	China	3-1	Hungary

13 March
	China	10-3	France

13 March
	Great Britain	1-5	North Korea

13 March
	Hungary	2-2	Denmark

13 March
	Austria	5-0	Bulgaria

15 March
	Austria	7-2	Great Britain

15 March
	Bulgaria	1-6	Hungary

15 March
	France	3-5	Denmark

	China	10-2	North Korea
15 March

World Championship medal table[]

1981 World Championships	Country
Gold	Soviet Union
Silver	Sweden
Bronze	Czechoslovakia
4	Canada
5	United States
6	Finland
7	Germany
8	Netherlands

European Championships medal table[]

1981 European Championships	Country
Gold	Soviet Union
Silver	Sweden
Bronze	Czechoslovakia
4	Finland
5	Germany
6	Netherlands