1987 IIHF World Championship (WFAC)

The 1987 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships was the 50th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships hosted by the (IIHF). It was also the 61st European Championships. Teams participated at three levels of competition. It took place between 6 and 22 February 1987 in the Canadian cities of  and. The two venues were the and the. The Soviet Union was the defending champion, having won the previous championship.

The two games of the tournament between Canada and the Soviet Union is considered by many to be the best exhibition of hockey in history. In the final the Canadians got off to a slow start as the Soviets scored three times in the first eight minutes to take a 3–0 lead. scored twice, assisted each time by, and with Canada's grinders taking over after that (particularly , and ), they pulled Canada into a 5–4 lead after two periods. The Soviets tied it back up in the third and forced the game into overtime again with 's goal with 1:04 remaining in regulation time. In the overtime period, Canada coach Mike Keenan, who had been juggling lines all series, sent the trio of Gretzky, Lemieux and Hawerchuk out to play with a faceoff in Canada's end. After the faceoff, Gretzky, Lemieux and rushed up the ice. Soviet defenseman was the only man back and he fell down to block a pass across but Gretzky fed the puck back to Lemieux, who fired a shot over the glove of goaltender  at 10:07 of the overtime period. It was the third assist for Gretzky on the night and completed a hat trick for Lemieux, and the Gretzky to Lemieux play is considered one of the most memorable plays in Canadian sports history.

Sweden won against Czechoslovakia 4–3 for the bronze medal. was the leading scorer and was named the most valuable player of the tournament.