Group 2

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1		5	4	1	0	20 - 08	9
2		5	3	1	1	23 - 11	7
3		5	3	0	2	14 - 15	6
4		5	1	2	2	18 - 17	4
5		5	1	1	3	12 - 21	3
6		5	0	1	4	07 - 22	1

Second Round 1-6 Place

Teams that had played each other in the first round carried those results forward. First and second place played off for gold, third and fourth for bronze.

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1		5	4	0	1	17 - 09	8
2		5	3	0	2	13 - 14	6
3		5	2	1	2	13 - 13	5
4		5	2	0	3	12 - 12	4
5		5	2	0	3	12 - 12	4
6		5	1	1	3	07 - 14	3

Consolation Round 7-12 Place

Teams that had played each other in the first round carried those results forward. Last place was not relegated to Group B, instead they had to play against three qualifiers from Group B for the last two openings in the 1998 Group A tournament. This was Germany's lowest finish since 1965.

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
7		5	4	0	1	29 - 14	8
8		5	3	1	1	23 - 13	7
9		5	3	0	2	15 - 13	6
10		5	2	0	3	12 - 23	4
11		5	2	0	3	08 - 17	4
12		5	0	1	4	11 - 18	1

Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 was sent to 1998 Group A Qualifier.

Match for third place

Final

World Championship Group B (Poland)

Played April 12-21 in Katowice

Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

 and Sosnowiec

Sosnowiec

Sosnowiec is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a combined population of over two million people located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river .It is situated in...

. With the announcement that Group A would be expanding from twelve to sixteen nations, Group B would also undergo significant changes. The winner and next year's host (Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

) were promoted. In addition, the remaining three best teams would win the opportunity to play in a qualifying tournament against the last place team from Group A, where the top two would be included in the Group A tournament.

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
13		7	7	0	0	48 - 21	14
14		7	5	1	1	31 - 21	11
15		7	3	2	2	26 - 22	8
16		7	2	3	2	22 - 22	7
17		7	2	2	3	19 - 24	6
18		7	2	1	4	28 - 22	5
19		7	2	1	4	21 - 38	5
20		7	0	0	7	19 - 44	0

Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

, as winner, was promoted to Group A. Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, as host, was also promoted to Group A. Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, and Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 were all promoted to the Qualifying tournament for Group A, along with Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. No one was relegated.

World Championship Group C (Estonia)

Played March 22-28 in Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

 and Kohtla-Järve

Kohtla-Järve

Kohtla-Järve is a city and municipality in north-eastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of various petroleum products. The city is also very diverse ethnically: it contains...

. Along with the expansion of Group A, a provision was made to allow the best "Far East" team to qualify directly. Beginning in 1999 there would be a tournament to decide who that would be. But for now, the top placing "Far East" hockey nation was able to proceed directly from Group C to Group A. For this year, as well, promotion to Group B was available to the top three European teams, and there was no relegation.

Group 1

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1		3	2	1	0	11 - 03	5
2		3	1	2	0	18 - 12	4
3		3	1	1	1	11 - 11	3
4		3	0	0	3	05 - 19	0

Group 2

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1		3	3	0	0	17 - 03	6
2		3	2	0	1	18 - 04	4
3		3	1	0	2	06 - 17	2
4		3	0	0	3	07 - 24	0

Final Round 21-24 Place

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
21		3	2	1	0	07 - 05	5
22		3	1	1	1	09 - 07	3
23		3	0	2	1	06 - 07	2
24		3	0	2	1	05 - 08	2

Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 was promoted to Group A as the "Far East Qualifier", the Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

, and Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 were all promoted to Group B.

Consolation Round 25-28 Place

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
25		3	3	0	0	15 - 08	6
26		3	2	0	1	12 - 05	4
27		3	1	0	2	14 - 16	2
28		3	0	0	3	06 - 18	0

World Championship Group D (Andorra)

Played April 7-14 in Canillo

Canillo

Canillo is one of the parishes of Andorra. Canillo is also the name of the main town of the parish. Canillo has a gondola link to the main ski resort of Grandvalira.-Geography:...

. With Group A expansion, four nations were promoted to Group C.

Group 1

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1		3	2	0	1	10 - 04	4
2		3	2	0	1	12 - 08	4
3		3	2	0	1	07 - 07	4
4		3	0	0	3	09 - 19	0

Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 and South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 were promoted to Group C.

Group 2

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1		3	2	0	1	17 - 13	4
2		3	1	1	1	11 - 11	3
3		3	1	1	1	10 - 10	3
4		3	1	0	2	10 - 14	2

Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 and Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 were promoted to Group C.

Final Round 29-32 Place

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
29		3	2	1	0	08 - 05	5
30		3	2	0	1	07 - 03	4
31		3	1	0	2	10 - 11	2
32		3	0	1	2	07 - 13	1

Consolation Round 33-36 Place

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
33		3	2	0	1	12 - 14	4
34		3	1	1	1	13 - 10	3
35		3	1	1	1	10 - 09	3
36		3	1	0	2	09 - 11	2

Unofficial Group E

Three men's teams that were going to be included in Group D in 1998 played a tournament in Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

 Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

from February 19 to 24 1997.

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
NR		4	3	1	0	36 - 8	7
NR		4	2	1	1	23 - 20	5
NR		4	0	0	4	14 - 45	0

Medal table

VM 1997	Land
Gold
Silver
Bronze
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12