1997 FIB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MEN

Stockholm and 11 other cities, Sweden, 1-9 February

Sweden won the tournament. Russia won the silver medals and Finland bronze.

The tournament was inaugurated by Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf. The tournament was spread out to several places, large and small, and attracted a lot of spectators. The 25 matches were viewed in total by 53,975 spectators. With their victory, it was clear that Sweden dominated in the mid-1990s. Jonas Claesson was the final hero for Sweden with 4 goals against Russia before 10 217 spectators in Västerås.

Sweden had invested heavily in gold and already on March 20, 1996, the Swedish Head coach Stefan Karlsson had chosen the Swedish team.

The tournament was played in many different places: Fagersta, Grängesberg, Katrineholm, Köping, Otterbäcken, Sandviken, Skövde, Slottsbron, Stockholm, Trollhättan, Vänersborg och Västerås.

1 SWEDEN 

Mikael Forsell, Kjell Berglund, Göran Rosendahl, Marcus Bergwall, Gert Johansson, Stefan Jonsson, Per Fosshaug, Patrick Sandell, Ola Fredricsson, Jonas Claesson, Hans Åström, Niklas Spångberg, Jonas Holgersson, Magnus Muhrén, Head coach Kenth Hultqvist

2 RUSSIA 

Vyacheslav Ryabov, Oleg Khaidarov, Maxim Poteshkin, Yuri Loginov, Pavel Franz, Nikolai Yarovitch, Konstantin Zaletaev, Valery Gratchev, Igor Gapanovich, Sergei Obuchov, Rinat Shamsutov, Sergei Topichkanov, Mikhail Svechnikov, Sergei Infalin, Head coach Valery Eichvald      

3 FINLAND

BEST GOAL SCORERS GROUP A

15 goals
Jonas Claesson, Sweden
13 goals
Igor Gapanovich, Russia
12 goals
Samuli Niskanen, Finland
8 goals
Patrick Sandell, Sweden, Andrei Marijashin, Kazakhstan and Ari Holopainen, Finland

BEST GOAL SCORER GROUP B

11 goals
David Reichel, USA

BEST PLAYERS

Goal keeper
Mikael Forsell, Sweden

Defender
Stefan Jonsson, Sweden

Midfielder
Ola Fredricsson, Sweden

Forward
Jonas Claesson, Sweden