World Ranking: Women’s National Team improves to 13th place

Canada lost the final of this year’s Women’s World Championship to the USA, but was able to defend first place in the IIHF Women’s World Ranking thanks to its gold medals at the last two World Championships and the 2022 Winter Olympics. Canada now tops the rankings in both the men’s and women’s categories for the first time since 2015.
 
The World Ranking is a four-year ranking that takes into account points from four Women’s World Championships and the 2022 Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament. It is calculated separately for the men’s and women’s national teams and forms the basis for seeding at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship for men and women in the top division, as well as for the Olympic ice hockey tournaments and qualification.

At the World Championship Division IA in Shenzhen, which Austria finished in 3rd place, Anna Meixner & Co. celebrated victories over Norway, Denmark and Slovakia. They were only beaten by the Netherlands and hosts China, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Top Division.

Denmark, which secured immediate promotion back to the Top Division thanks to its second-place finish in Shenzhen, remains in 11th place ahead of France. Austria moved up one place to 13th, while China, the winner of the World Championship Division IA, climbed two places to 14th, its highest position since 2012.
 
The 2023 IIHF Women’s World Ranking comprises 45 women’s national teams that have participated over the past four years – a record number that will increase further with the first-time participation of Singapore and Thailand next year.

Martin Kogler, General Manager Women’s National Team: "The fact that we once again narrowly missed out on promotion this year is somewhat disappointing. Nevertheless, we have taken another step forward. The new coaching staff has settled in very well, and we must now ensure that we maintain this upward trend and continue to improve in the World Ranking. This improvement is particularly important with regard to Olympic qualification, where teams are seeded according to their World Ranking position."

IIHF Women’s World Ranking

As at 28 August 2023

1. Canada
2. USA
3. Switzerland
4. Finland
5. Czechia
6. Russia
7. Japan
8. Sweden
9. Germany
10. Hungary
11. Denmark
12. France
13. Austria
14. China
15. Norway

The full world rankings can be found HERE!