The 2012 IIHF World Championship was the 76th IIHF World Championship, an annual international ice hockey tournament. It took place between 4–20 May 2012 in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. This tournament determined the countries' seeding for the men's Olympic Ice Hockey tournament in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and for all countries participating in the qualification program leading up to the Olympics.

The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European Championships, the precursor to the World Championships, were first held in 1910. The tournament held at the 1920 Summer Olympics is recognized as the first Ice Hockey World Championship. From 1920 to 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.