It has since grown in prestige, particularly in Canada, where the tournament ranks as one of the most important events on the sports calendar and during the holiday season.

The Globe and Mail writer Bruce Dowbiggin credits TSN, along with Canada's strong performance at the tournament, for turning it from an obscure non-event when it acquired the rights in 1991 (which had started to grow in prominence due to the 1987 Punch-up in Piestany) to one of Canada's most beloved annual sports events, and at the same time cementing the link between Canadian nationalism and hockey, and inspiring the NHL's Winter Classic.

[2][3] Based on increasing attendances for countries repeatedly hosting the event, the popularity of the tournament seems to be growing in other nations as well.

[5] Buffalo, New York, in the United States, hosted the tournament in 2011 and 2018; in both cases, proximity to Canada's population core in Southern Ontario was a key factor to the city winning the bidding rights.

It began when the Soviet Union's Pavel Kostichkin took a two-handed slash at Canadian player Theoren Fleury.

The officials, unable to break up the numerous fights, left the ice and eventually tried shutting off the arena lights, but the brawl lasted for 20 minutes before the IIHF declared the game null and void.

A 35-minute emergency meeting was held, resulting in the delegates voting 7–1 (the sole dissenter was Canadian Dennis McDonald) to eject both teams from the tournament.

[16] Canada, Finland, Sweden, and Czechoslovakia/Czechia have participated in all 44 IIHF Ice Hockey World Junior Championships as well as the three unofficial tournaments.

The USSR/CIS/Russia participated in all tournaments until the 2022 edition (having been suspended by the IIHF in February 2022 as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine).

Starting with the 1996 tournament, the competition was increased from an 8-team round-robin to the current 10-team format, including elimination rounds.

Germany has been a frequent participant in the top pool, having played there roughly half the time in the past decade.

Less frequent top pool appearances have been made by Austria, Denmark, France, Japan, Norway, Poland and Ukraine.