Bandy World Championship

Although bandy has been played since the 19th century, the first men's world championships were only played as recently as 1957, and the first women's championships not until 2004.

Before this, friendlies had been played regularly between the Nordic countries. A film from British Pathé created in 1935 called "Ice Hockey At Helsingfors On Sleeve As Ice Hockey At Halsingfors News In A Nutshell (1935)" shows an international bandy match between women bandy players from Finland and women bandy players from Sweden being played outdoors at Helsingfors Ice Stadium (Helsinki) in Finland where the narrator corrects the misconception that it is an international women's ice hockey game. Helsingfors is the Swedish name for Helsinki and comes from the name of the surrounding parish, Helsinge (etymological origin of the Finnish name Helsinki) and the rapids (in Swedish: fors), which flowed through the original town.

A bandy tournament for men was held as a demonstration sport at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, but this had no world championship status. A four nation tournament in 1954 for men was played in Moscow, this was the first time the Soviet Union met teams from other countries and the first time the new, jointly agreed rules were used, however this was not called a world championship. The international federation was founded in 1955 by the four countries which had men's national bandy teams who had played in Moscow.

The first ever men's Bandy World Championship was organised in 1957 in association with the 50th anniversary of the Ball Association of Finland, which at the time was the governing body of bandy in Finland. It was played at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.[3]

From 1961 to 2003, the men's championships were played every two years, but since then has been played annually. (During the period 1972–1990, the Rossiya Tournament was held for national teams in the years when there was no world championship. This was always played in the Soviet Union and arranged by newspaper Sovetskaya Rossiya. It was affectionately called "the small world championship".)

For a long time, only four countries competed at the world championships: the Soviet Union, Sweden, Finland and Norway, with the Soviet Union the dominating country. Since then, more countries have joined the tournaments, starting with the United States in 1985. The interest in the sport has spread to other parts of Europe, North America and Asia, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 also opened the way for separate national teams from the former Soviet republics. Somalia became the first team from Africa to compete, in the 2014 tournament in Irkutsk.[4] The record number of participants is 20, set in 2019.

Denmark, Switzerland, Armenia and Poland are countries that a few years ago expressed interest in participating in future tournaments.[5] Denmark and Poland have left FIB, while Switzerland debuted in the 2019 edition, as did Great Britain.[6] Armenia wished to participate in the 2011,[7] but was not allowed to, as the tournament format at the time only allowed twelve teams and several more wanted to come. Of the countries which still have not taken part, India was also denied in 2011.[8] Most probably also Lithuania.[9][10] The reason for the 2011 tournament having only eleven teams, was a late cancellation from Australia,[11] another country no longer an FIB member.

With more nations competing, Group B was created in 1991. In 2012 there was a Group C for the first time as 14 countries participated. Group C was abolished in 2013, when instead two sub-groups of Group B were created. In 2014 there were two sub-groups also in Group A, increasing the number of teams in that division from six to eight. The number of groups is not fixed, it is changed from year to year and there are discussions about reinstating a Group C.[12] Japan and Kyrgyzstan attended their first World Championships in 2012, Ukraine joined in 2013, Germany and Somalia made their debuts in 2014, China in 2015, and the Czech Republic in 2016. Russia, Finland, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Norway, USA and Belarus usually play in group A. Until 2011, the best team in group B Went into a playoff match with the team which came bottom of the A-group, replacing them if they won. In 2004 the B-pool was played in a location separate from group A for the first time, at the City Park Ice Rink in Budapest. In 2013 this happened again as Vetlanda hosted the B-pool, whereas Vänersborg was the main venue of the A-pool with three matches played at other locations, Trollhättan, Gothenburg and Oslo. In 2015 and 2016 the tournaments were separated in time while in the same cities. The Division B matches are shorter in time, except for the end matches.

• 
  Medeu was the main arena for the XXXIInd championships in 2012. Here the final of the 2011 Asian Winter Games.
• 
  The reserve field of Almaty Central Stadium was the venue for Division B and C in 2012. Here Canada.
• 
  Arena Vänersborg in Sweden, the main venue of the XXXIIIrd championship, held in 2013
• 
  Arena Yerofey, the final of the XXXVIth championship in 2015

Participation details

Team	57	61	63	65	67	69	71	73	75	77	79	81	83	85	87	89	91	93	95	97	99	01
Belarus	part of Soviet Union																	–	–	–	–	7th
Canada	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6th	6th	7th	7th	–	–
Finland	2nd	3rd	2nd	4th	2nd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	2nd	2nd	3rd	4th	3rd	3rd	2nd	3rd
Hungary	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8th	7th	8th	8th	–	–
Kazakhstan	part of Soviet Union																	–	4th	4th	5th	4th
Netherlands	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	7th	8th	–	9th	–	–
Norway	–	4th	4th	2nd	4th	–	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	3rd	5th	5th	4th	5th
Russia	part of Soviet Union																	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st
Soviet Union	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	3rd	1st	1st	defunct
Sweden	3rd	2nd	3rd	3rd	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	1st	3rd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	3rd	2nd
United States	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	6th	6th	6th	6th
Total teams	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	8	8	8	9	6	7

Team	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Total
Belarus	6th	7th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	–	7th	7th	6th	7th	6th	6th	8th	–	–	–	15
Canada	–	9th	8th	8th	–	8th	8th	7th	8th	8th	8th	8th	–	–	9th	–	14th	–	16
China	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15th	16th	17th	12th	18th	–	5
Czech Republic	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15th	16th	–	15th	16th	4
Germany	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15th	12th	9th	7th	7th	7th	–	6
Estonia	8th	10th	10th	12th	12th	10th	9th	–	–	12th	11th	10th	9th	DSQ	14th	11th	9th	–	15
Finland	4th	1st	4th	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	2nd	4th	4th	4th	4th	2nd	3rd	3rd	3rd	–	39
Great Britain	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10th	–	1
Hungary	–	8th	11th	9th	10th	13th	13th	10th	10th	9th	10th	11th	10th	10th	10th	8th	11th	9th	17
Japan	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	13th	13th	12th	13th	13th	12th	10th	12th	15th	9
Kazakhstan	3rd	4th	3rd	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	4th	5th	4th	4th	–	21
Kyrgyzstan	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	14th	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1
Latvia	–	–	–	–	8th	9th	10th	8th	9th	10th	9th	9th	7th	8th	–	–	13th	14th	12
Mongolia	–	–	–	11th	11th	12th	12th	11th	–	–	–	14th	14th	12th	11th	13th	–	12th	11
Netherlands	9th	11th	9th	10th	9th	11th	11th	9th	11th	11th	12th	13th	11th	14th	15th	9th	8th	13th	21
Norway	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	5th	4th	6th	5th	–	37
Russia	2nd	3rd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st	–	22
Slovakia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15th	16th	11th	3
Somalia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17th	16th	17th	18th	16th	20th	18th	7
Sweden	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	3rd	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	2nd	–	39
Switzerland	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	19th	17th	2
Ukraine	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	14th	16th	–	11th	13th	14th	17th	10th	7
United States	7th	6th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	6th	6th	6th	7th	6th	8th	7th	6th	5th	6th	–	26
Total teams	9	11	11	12	12	13	13	11	11	14	14	17	16	18	18	16	20	18

Originally, the competition was played as an all-meet-all round-robin tournament. Starting in 1983, semifinals and a final was added to follow the round-robin stage.

When the number of participating nations increased, the championship was split up in two groups from 2003 onwards, A and B, with the better teams in Group A. The winner of Group B for some years played a game against the least successful team of Group A to determine qualification for Group A for next year, but in 2016, 2017, and 2018 winning Group B has been directly qualifying for group A for the following year while the last placed team of Group A is automatically relegated to Group B.

The interest is biggest in Sweden, Finland and Russia.[13] For a few times now it has been shown on Eurosport 2.

The games are also viewable via online streaming.

• "Results from the championships 1957-1999 by Per G. Olsson". Archived from the original on 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2006-02-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)