1981 IIHF World Championship (WFAC)

The 1981 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships was the 44th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships hosted by the (IIHF). The tournament also doubled as the 55th European Championships. It took place between 6 and 22 February 1989 in and,. The games were played in the arenas of and. The Soviet Union was the defending champion, having won the previous championship.

The Soviet Union were eager to re-assert themselves following their upset loss to the United States at the. Canada was also under pressure, as the Soviet national team's easy victory over the National Hockey League's all-stars in the 1979 Challenge Cup left the Canadians searching to regain command of their rivalry with the Soviets. In the final Canada suffered its worst defeat in world championship history as the Soviet Union won by an 8–1 score. Canadian goaltender became the scapegoat for Canada's embarrassing loss. The game was one of the worst of his career, but Canada managed only four shots in the third period and never threatened the Soviets even though they entered the final 20 minutes down by only two goals. Soviet goaltender, meanwhile, was named the tournament most valuable player on the strength of his goaltending throughout the event. commented, "This is the best Russian team I've ever seen."

In the bronze medal game, Czechoslovakia defeated the United States 4–2.

Newly promoted the Netherlands had won Group C and Group B in successive years to play in this tournament, but did not fare well. Their best game was a narrow one goal loss to the Americans, a goal scored on a penalty shot by with eleven seconds left. It was their first appearance at the top level since 1950.

Qualified teams
The seven teams of the 1979 was automatically qualified for the tournament, along with the 1979 Pool B winner the Netherlands were also qualified for the 1981 Pool A tournament.