The 2021 IIHF World Championship (Latvian: 2021. gada Pasaules čempionāts hokejā) took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021.

[1] It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany.

[2] On 18 January 2021 the IIHF decided to remove Belarus as a co-host due to the rising political unrest and COVID-19 concerns there.

[6] On the other hand, Kazakhstan recorded their best World Championship result to date, finishing tenth, while only narrowly missing their first-ever play-off appearance.

Prior to the beginning of the tournament, and against objections by Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš and Minister of Health Daniels Pavļuts, the Latvian parliament voted in favour of a notion ordering the government to develop a plan for allowing spectators who are either fully vaccinated or otherwise immune due to recent infection.

However, in the wake of the ongoing 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, several political groups, politicians and international entities, including the European Parliament and Krišjānis Kariņš, the Prime Minister of Latvia, which was set to co-host the championship, protested tournament matches being held in Belarus, and called for the country to be stripped of co-hosting duties.

[17][18][19] On January 18, 2021, the IIHF, citing "safety and security issues," decided that the World Championship would not be played in Belarus.

[3] Latvia would remain as a co-host for the time being, but the IIHF was considering whether to go with another site, due to COVID-19 constraints and the desirability for single-site travel.

[24][25] On May 28, 2021, Belarus opened a criminal case against Staķis and Rinkēvičs, accusing them of fuelling "national enmity".

The hedgehog is a very popular animal in the hosting countries and it represents the fighting spirit and determination of the Belarus and Latvian national hockey teams.