With the historic silver medal at the World Championships in Finland and Latvia, the German national ice hockey team jumped from ninth to fifth place in the world rankings.
The team of national coach Harold Kreis not only overtook Switzerland and Slovakia by reaching the final, but also the top nations Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Actually, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) after the 2: 5 in the final against Canada with 3835 points would even be fourth and thus even better placed than after Olympic silver in 2018. But the world association IIHF continues to lead the suspended Russian national team on the third rank, which it held before the war of aggression against Ukraine and the subsequent exclusion.
In any case, the German team has qualified directly for the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina – regardless of whether Russia is allowed to participate in the qualification or not. The IIHF has announced a corresponding decision for March 2024, because the qualifying tournaments for the Winter Games will begin shortly thereafter.
At the World Cup next year in the Czech Republic, the DEB selection will play in preliminary round group A in Ostrava. Opponents are record world champions Canada according to the provisional grouping published by the IIHF, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan and newly promoted Poland.