The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or World Juniors, is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 teams. Held from late December to early January, it features the top ten hockey nations in the 'Top Division,' competing for the championship. Teams in the lower divisions (I, II, and III) also participate, aiming for promotion or to avoid relegation.
Canada has won 20 gold medals since the event's inception in 1977. Nearly half of the tournaments have been hosted in Canada, with the rest held in Europe and the U.S. The United States is the current champion, having defeated Sweden in the 2024 edition in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Related: IIHF World Junior Championship Tournament Awards
List of IIHF World Junior Championship media All-Star teams
The IIHF World Junior Championship Media All-Star Team is a recognition given annually to the top-performing players in each position. After each championship, the media selects one goaltender, two defensemen, and three forwards based on their performances during the event. This tradition has been in place since the first official tournament in 1977.
The IIHF World Junior Championship Media All-Star Team selections began in 1977, with the Soviet Union’s Alexander Tyzhnykh being the first goaltender chosen. The most recent All-Star Team in 2024 featured Sweden’s Hugo Hävelid as the goaltender. Over the years, Canada has had the most players selected overall. Countries like Finland, Sweden, and the Soviet Union/Russia have also had significant representation. Meanwhile, nations like Switzerland and Slovakia have had fewer selections.
| Year | Goaltender | Defencemen | Forwards | |||
| 1977 | Alexander Tyzhnykh | Viacheslav Fetisov | Risto Siltanen | Dale McCourt | Igor Romashin | Bengt Gustafsson |
| 1978 | Alexander Tyzhnykh | Viacheslav Fetisov | Risto Siltanen | Wayne Gretzky | Anton Šťastný | Mats Näslund |
| 1979 | Pelle Lindbergh | Alexei Kasatonov | Ivan Černý | Vladimir Krutov | Thomas Steen | Anatoli Tarasov |
| 1980 | Jari Paavola | Reijo Ruotsalainen | Tomas Jonsson | Vladimir Krutov | Igor Larionov | Håkan Loob |
| 1981 | Lars Eriksson | Miloslav Horava | Håkan Nordin | Patrik Sundström | Jan Erixon | Ari Lähteenmäki |
| 1982 | Mike Moffat | Petri Skriko | Ilya Byakin | Gord Kluzak | Vladimir Ruzicka | Mike Moller |
| 1983 | Matti Rautiainen | Ilya Byakin | Simo Saarinen | Tomas Sandström | German Volgin | Vladimír Růžička |
| 1984 | Evgeny Belosheikin | Alexei Gusarov | Frantisek Musil | Raimo Helminen | Petr Rosol | Nikolai Borschevsky |
| 1985 | Timo Lehkonen | Bobby Dollas | Mikhail Tatarinov | Michal Pivoňka | Esa Tikkanen | Mikko Makela |
| 1986 | Yevgeni Belosheikin | Mikhail Tatarinov | Sylvain Côté | Michal Pivoňka | Shayne Corson | Igor Vyazmikin |
| 1987 | Sam Lindståhl | Brian Leetch | Jiří Látal | Scott Young | Ulf Dahlén | Juraj Jurík |
| 1988 | Jimmy Waite | Teppo Numminen | Greg Hawgood | Alexander Mogilny | Theoren Fleury | Sergei Fedorov |
| 1989 | Alexei Ivashkin | Ricard Persson | Milan Tichý | Pavel Bure | Jeremy Roenick | Niklas Eriksson |
| 1990 | Stéphane Fiset | Jiří Šlégr | Alexander Godynyuk | Robert Reichel | Dave Chyzowski | Jaromir Jagr |
| 1991 | Pauli Jaks | Scott Lachance | Dmitri Yushkevich | Eric Lindros | Martin Ručinský | Mike Craig |
| 1992 | Mike Dunham | Scott Niedermayer | Janne Gronvall | Alexei Kovalev | Peter Ferraro | Michael Nylander |
| 1993 | Manny Legace | Kenny Jönsson | Brent Tully | Peter Forsberg | Paul Kariya | Markus Näslund |
| 1994 | Evgeni Ryabchikov | Kenny Jönsson | Kimmo Timonen | Niklas Sundström | David Výborný | Valeri Bure |
| 1995 | Igor Karpenko | Bryan McCabe | Anders Eriksson | Jason Allison | Marty Murray | Éric Dazé |
| 1996 | José Theodore | Mattias Öhlund | Nolan Baumgartner | Jarome Iginla | Alexei Morozov | Johan Davidsson |
| 1997 | Brian Boucher | Chris Phillips | Mark Streit | Christian Dubé | Sergei Samsonov | Mike York |
| 1998 | David Aebischer | Andrei Markov | Pierre Hedin | Olli Jokinen | Eero Somervuori | Maxim Balmochnykh |
| 1999 | Roberto Luongo | Vitaly Vishnevskiy | Brian Campbell | Maxim Balmochnykh | Daniel Tkaczuk | Brian Gionta |
| 2000 | Rick DiPietro | Mathieu Biron | Alexander Ryazantsev | Milan Kraft | Evgeny Muratov | Alexei Tereshchenko |
| 2001 | Ari Ahonen | Rostislav Klesla | Tuukka Mäntylä | Jason Spezza | Pavel Brendl | Jani Rita |
| 2002 | Pascal Leclaire | Jay Bouwmeester | Igor Knyazev | Michael Cammalleri | Marek Svatoš | Stanislav Chistov |
| 2003 | Marc-André Fleury | Carlo Colaiacovo | Joni Pitkänen | Yuri Trubachev | Igor Grigorenko | Scottie Upshall |
| 2004 | Al Montoya | Sami Lepistö | Dion Phaneuf | Jeff Carter | Zach Parise | Valtteri Filppula |
| 2005 | Marek Schwarz | Dion Phaneuf | Ryan Suter | Patrice Bergeron | Jeff Carter | Alexander Ovechkin |
| 2006 | Tuukka Rask | Luc Bourdon | Jack Johnson | Steve Downie | Evgeni Malkin | Lauri Tukonen |
| 2007 | Carey Price | Kris Letang | Erik Johnson | Jonathan Toews | Alexei Cherepanov | Patrick Kane |
| 2008 | Steve Mason | Drew Doughty | Victor Hedman | Patrik Berglund | Viktor Tikhonov | James van Riemsdyk |
| 2009 | Jaroslav Janus | Erik Karlsson | P. K. Subban | John Tavares | Cody Hodgson | Nikita Filatov |
| 2010 | Benjamin Conz | Alex Pietrangelo | John Carlson | Jordan Eberle | Nino Niederreiter | Derek Stepan |
| 2011 | Jack Campbell | Ryan Ellis | Dmitri Orlov | Brayden Schenn | Ryan Johansen | Evgeny Kuznetsov |
| 2012 | Petr Mrazek | Brandon Gormley | Oscar Klefbom | Evgeny Kuznetsov | Max Friberg | Mikael Granlund |
| 2013 | John Gibson | Jacob Trouba | Jake McCabe | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Filip Forsberg | Johnny Gaudreau |
| 2014 | Juuse Saros | Rasmus Ristolainen | Nikita Zadorov | Anthony Mantha | Filip Forsberg | Teuvo Teräväinen |
| 2015 | Denis Godla | Gustav Forsling | Josh Morrissey | Connor McDavid | Sam Reinhart | Max Domi |
| 2016 | Linus Söderström | Olli Juolevi | Zach Werenski | Jesse Puljujärvi | Patrik Laine | Auston Matthews |
| 2017 | Ilya Samsonov | Thomas Chabot | Charlie McAvoy | Kirill Kaprizov | Alexander Nylander | Clayton Keller |
| 2018 | Filip Gustavsson | Rasmus Dahlin | Cale Makar | Kieffer Bellows | Casey Mittelstadt | Filip Zadina |
| 2019 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | Alexander Romanov | Erik Brännström | Grigori Denisenko | Philipp Kurashev | Ryan Poehling |
| 2020 | Joel Hofer | Rasmus Sandin | Alexander Romanov | Samuel Fagemo | Barrett Hayton | Alexis Lafrenière |
| 2021 | Devon Levi | Bowen Byram | Ville Heinola | Trevor Zegras | Dylan Cozens | Tim Stützle |
| 2022 | Jesper Wallstedt | Olen Zellweger | Emil Andrae | Mason McTavish | Joakim Kemell | Jan Myšák |
| 2023 | Tomáš Suchánek | David Jiříček | Ludvig Jansson | Logan Cooley | Jiří Kulich | Connor Bedard |
| 2024 | Hugo Hävelid | Lane Hutson | Theo Lindstein | Cutter Gauthier | Jiří Kulich | Jonathan Lekkerimäki |
Related: Most IIHF Junior Championship Best Defenceman Winner
FAQs on List of IIHF World Junior Championship media All-Star teams
A. The IIHF was formed on May 15, 1908, 116 years ago.
A. The first season was in 1974 (unofficial), and it became official in 1977.
A. The tournament will be held in Ottawa, Canada.
A. The championship will take place from December 26, 2024, to January 5, 2025.
A. The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship will be held in Minnesota, USA, at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center and the 3M Arena.
