Luxembourg's ice hockey team will head to Cape Town to participate in the world championships from 17 - 23 April.

The men's national team currently plays in the third division and has placed 44th in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rankings. In the upcoming South African world championship, Luxembourg will compete in group A, facing off against the host nation, as well as Thailand, Turkmenistan and Chinese Tapei. The latter are the highest ranked from the group, and as such are hailed as the favourite. While Ice Hockey is still a niche sport in Luxembourg, the number of players has been steadily growing over the past decade. The Luxembourgish Ice Hockey Federation was founded in 1912 and has been making significant strides to elevate its profile on the European stage. Their biggest success came about in 2017, when they won the championship in the third division in Sofia, Bulgaria.

At present, Christer Ericksson coaches the Luxembourgish team, fresh from winning three medals as assistant coach of the French national team. Now he’s ready for a new challenge: Help the Red Lions achieve greater success. “In South Africa, these world championships will be the first brick of the national team of the future. We will go to Cape Town with the humility of a team that needs to shape up, to structure itself at all levels and grow.”

Get more information about the championship on the IIHF website and watch the games live on icehockey.lu.