Three qualifying competitions featuring two groups were held - one each in the Latvian towns of Valmiera and Kocēni, and the other in Celano in Italy.

Under the qualifying format for this year's Men's World Championship, scheduled for November 5 to 13 in Zürich and Winterthur in Switzerland, the six group winners all secured their berth at the main tournament.

The other four European places are made up of the teams who placed third at each qualifying event, and the best fourth-placed side based on their group stage results.

The tournament involving Groups E and F in Celano was first to conclude.

Czech Republic qualified after winning all three Group E matches against Slovenia, Spain and Italy, with Slovakia topping Group F with a perfect record against Germany, Austria and Ivory Coast, the only African nation competing in the tournament.

Slovakia won the tournament with a 5-4 victory in the final against Czech Republic, while Germany clinched third place and a spot at the World Championship by beating Slovenia 3-1.

Defending and nine-time world champions Sweden eased through qualifying.

They topped Group C in Kocēni with big victories against France and Hungary, while Norway won Group D at the expense of Poland, Liechtenstein and Belgium.

Sweden came out on top in the final, thrashing Norway 7-1, while Poland clinched the last World Championship place at the tournament after winning the third-place match 4-1 against France.

Four-time winners Finland, runners-up at the delayed 2020 World Championship, triumphed in the other qualifying tournament in Valmiera.

Finland topped Group A comfortably against Estonia, Britain and The Netherlands, with hosts Latvia winning Group B which included Denmark, Iceland and Ukraine.

The final was won 5-3 by Finland against Latvia.

Denmark took third place with a 5-4 victory against Estonia, although their opponents join them at the World Championships as the best ranked fourth-placed team.