Kuwait men's national ice hockey team
# Kuwait men's national ice hockey team

The Kuwait national ice hockey team (Arabic: منتخب الكويت لهوكي الجليد) is the national men's ice hockey team of Kuwait. The team is controlled by the Kuwait Ice Hockey Association and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) since 8 May 2009. As of 28 May 2023, Kuwait is currently ranked 50th in the IIHF World Ranking. Kuwait participated in the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, a regional tournament for lower-tier hockey nations in Asia, from 2010 to 2018. Kuwait made its World Championship debut at the 2018 Division III Qualification tournament.

## History

In 1985, Kuwait had joined the IIHF, but was expelled in 1992 due to a lack of ice hockey activity. In 1999, Kuwait played their first games at the 1999 Asian Winter Games against Japan, China, and Mongolia, losing all three. In 2007, Kuwait returned to international play at the 2007 Asian Winter Games where they recorded their first win against Macau. The following year they competed in the Arab Cup finishing second after losing to the United Arab Emirates in the final. In 2009, Kuwait re-admitted into the IIHF as an associate member. In 2010, Kuwait competed in their first Challenge Cup of Asia, finishing seventh overall, and in 2014, finishing 6th overall, losing all five games, and were relegated to Division I. Also they participated in the Kuwaiti organized Gulf Championship, finishing second behind the United Arab Emirates.

## Tournament record

### World Championships

| Year | Host | Result | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1930 through 1992 | 1930 through 1992 | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter |
| 1993 through 2008 | 1993 through 2008 | Expelled from IIHF | Expelled from IIHF | Expelled from IIHF | Expelled from IIHF | Expelled from IIHF | Expelled from IIHF |
| 2009 through 2017 | 2009 through 2017 | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter | did not enter |
| 2018 | Sarajevo | 50th place (4th in Division III Q) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2019 | Abu Dhabi | 51st place (5th in Division III Q) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2020 and 2021 | 2020 and 2021 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 | Bishkek | 49th place (5th in Division IV) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2023 | Ulaanbaatar | 54th place (3rd in Division IV) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

### Asian Winter Games

| Year | Host | Result | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1999 | Gangneung | 6th place | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2003 | Aomori | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| 2007 | Changchun | 7th place | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2011 | Astana | 11th place (6th in Premier Division) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Competed as Athletes from Kuwait ||||||
| 2017 | Sapporo | 16th place (6th in Division II) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Competed as Independent Olympic Athletes ||||||

### Arab Cup/GCC Gulf Championship

| Year | Host | Result | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Arab Cup (2008) ||||||||
| 2008 | Abu Dhabi | 2nd place | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| GCC Gulf Championship (2010–2016) ||||||||
| 2010 | Kuwait City | 2nd place | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2012 | Abu Dhabi | 2nd place | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2014 | Kuwait City | 2nd place | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2016 | Doha | 3rd place | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GCC Games (2022) ||||||||
| 2022 | Kuwait City | 3rd place | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Arab Cup (2023–) ||||||||
| 2023 | Kuwait City | 2nd place | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |

### Asia and Oceania Championship

| Year | Host | Result | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2008 and 2009 | 2008 and 2009 | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| 2010 | Taipei City | 7th place | 6 | 2 | – | 1* | 3 |
| 2011 | Kuwait City | 4th place | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2012 | Dehradun | 4th place | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2013 | Bangkok | 4th place | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2014 | Abu Dhabi | 6th place | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2015 | Kuwait City | 6th place (1st in Division I) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Abu Dhabi | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate |
| 2017 | Kuwait City | 6th place (1st in Division I) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Pasay | 5th place | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |

## All-time record against other national teams

Last match update: 13 May 2023

| Team | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Algeria | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 |
| Bahrain | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 12 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 17 |
| China | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 46 |
| Chinese Taipei | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 60 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 36 |
| India | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 11 |
| Indonesia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Iran | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 44 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 37 |
| Lebanon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Macau | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 7 |
| Malaysia | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 34 | 34 |
| Mongolia | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 45 |
| Morocco | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
| Oman | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 13 |
| Qatar | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 16 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 10 |
| Singapore | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 12 |
| Thailand | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 81 |
| Tunisia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| Turkmenistan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 24 |
| United Arab Emirates | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 19 | 83 |
| Total | 109 | 44 | 1 | 64 | 491 | 654 |
