Hungary Promoted to the Top Division in Ice Hockey

Lithuania beat Romania at the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A held in Slovenia. The result secures second place for Hungary and promotion to the top-level Worlds for 2023 alongside tournament winner Slovenia.

This year the Hungarian national team had a better chance than ever before to be among the top 16 teams at the World Championship next year after 2009 and 2016 and they managed to take advantage of this chance.

The new coronavirus epidemic, and then the Russian-Ukrainian war – as a result of which On February 28 this year, the IIHF decided to expel Russia and Belarus from the tournament due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine –, have shaken up the world championships in this sport: no team has been eliminated from the last tournament in 2019, and the number of teams in the qualification groups was only five instead of six.

At the first match in Group A, Hungary defeated South Korea with a convincing win of 5-1. At the following game against Lithuania, the Hungarian side suffered but won 2-1. In the third game, the Hungarians did not really have a chance against the host side Slovenia that won the match 5-1. Sunday’s game against Romania has no relevance for Hungary the final standings, as the second place in the group Slovenia, and thus the promotion is secured.