The 1972 World Ice Hockey Championships was the 39th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 7 to 22 April 1972, and the Czechoslovakia national team won the tournament, the third time they had done so and first since 1949, ending the Soviet Union's streak of nine consecutive titles. In addition it was the Czech's 12th European title. The American team, who had won the Silver medal earlier in the year at the Olympics, could not even win the 'B' pool, losing to Poland in their final match.