Great Britain missed out on a place at the final qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics as they were beaten 4-1 by Hungary at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham.
Hungary now go to Latvia – one of three final-stage groups – as GB finished second with two wins from their three matches.
GB edged the first session as Matthew Myers had a chance short-handed and Jonathan Phillips was denied by a neat pad save from Miklos Rajna, who then made a terrific stop from Mike Hammond’s one-timer.
Brendan Connolly saw his close-range shot saved on the powerplay while at the other end, Ben Bowns made two great pad saves at the midway point of the period.
Hungary went ahead 32 seconds into the second period through Bence Stipsicz’s shot from the slot (20:32).
Scott Conway hit the bar on an odd-man rush on the powerplay before Hungary grabbed their second with a one-timer from Csanad Erdely from close range (31:17).
Matthew Myers scored his 19th international goal as he reacted first to pounce on a rebound on the powerplay 57 seconds into the third period (40:57), but Janos Hari’s clever wraparound made it 3-1 at 45:11.
GB pressed to get back into the game and Davey Phillips’ shot was cleared off the line, before Hungary broke the other way and Istvan Sofron pulled a nice move for Hungary’s fourth (52:00).
Head coach, Pete Russell, said: “We gave it everything we had and we dominated at times.
“But credit to Hungary they played a great game and they were excellent defensively.
“We have a lot to be proud of and I have to make a special mention for our supporters.
“We had some fantastic support, the backing these past few days has been unbelievable.
“The fans deserved to see us go through but it wasn’t to be and we now turn our attentions to the World Championship.”