In late June, the NHL announced the beginning of the selection process for determining the two host cities of the next World Cup of Hockey, which is scheduled to take place in February 2028.

According to the press release, the eight-team tournament will be split into two groups of four, with one group playing at venue in North America and the other at an international venue – almost certainly in Europe. In all probability, each venue would host six group-stage games and two quarterfinals, with the North American venue also hosting the two semifinals and the final.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, July 18, 2025, for North American cities and Wednesday, July 30, 2025, for international cities. The final selection of host cities is expected to take place sometime in early 2026.

North American entries will surely be current NHL arenas. Which one will be selected is anyone’s guess, but there are far fewer venues in Europe that the NHL is likely to view as suitable. First of all, the timeline of the selection almost certainly rules out the possibility of any Russian city hosting. Even if Russia does play in the tournament, it’s far more likely to play in the North American group than in Europe, where their presence could be more controversial.

Here are seven venues in European countries that have a strong possibility to host, ranked from most likely to least likely to be chosen.

Hockey Slovakia President Miroslav Šatan Reveals Formats Being Considered For 2028 World Cup Of Hockey Ever since the NHL and NHLPA announced that the World Cup of Hockey would return in February 2028 with at least eight teams, there has been much speculation about where the games will take place and who will participate, including some wild suggestions.

1. O2 Arena, Prague
Opened: 2004
Capacity: 17,383

When the facility then called Sazka Arena opened in Prague in 2004, it was fully up to NHL standards of the day with a capacity of over 17,000, club seats, luxury boxes and everything else. That year, it was the main venue for the IIHF World Championship and also hosted a game in the World Cup of Hockey. More than 20 years later, it is still one of only two hockey venues within the European Union that could reasonably be considered up to current NHL standards in terms of capacity and amenities.

In addition, Czech fans always tend to come out to support their team in big numbers, and Prague is centrally located in Europe, easily accessible from all corners of the continent by air and rail. It’s a popular destination for travelling fans, which is shown every time it hosts a major hockey event, meaning that all games could be well-attended, not only the ones that the host team is playing in.

For all those reasons, O2 Arena in Prague is the most likely European host, but it’s not a slam dunk.

2. Avicii Arena, Stockholm
Opened: 2004 (Renovated: 2025)
Capacity: 13,850

Stockholm is every bit of a hockey city as Prague is, and the facility formerly known as The Globe has also hosted numerous high-profile hockey events over the years, including World Championships, World Cups and NHL regular-season games.

Avicci Arena, however, opened in 1989 and is significantly older than O2 Arena, and despite extensive renovations ahead of this year’s World Championship, it still seats less than 14,000 for hockey. Also, while Stockholm is almost as accessible as Prague for visitors from elsewhere in Europe, it’s a considerably more expensive city to visit.

Still, the NHL considers Stockholm and Sweden an important market, as shown by how frequently they place events there, so Avicii Arena is very much in play for the World Cup.

3. Helsinki Arena
Opened: 1997 (reopening in 2025)
Capacity: 13,349

Between its opening in 1997 and 2022, this arena was the premier hockey venue in Finland and one of the top ones in Europe, hosting four World Championships, two World Juniors, three games at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and seven NHL games. However, it’s been closed since early 2022 – you can read more about that here.

The good news is, the arena will apparently return to operation this September. There are, however, recent reports from Finland that the building’s new operator is balking at reactivating the ice plant. If it’s fully hockey functional – and it’s given the green light before the NHL makes its decision – Helsinki has a chance.

Closed For 3 Years, Helsinki’s Largest Arena To Reopen With New Name From its opening in 1997 until March 2022, the building then known as Hartwall Arena hosted four IIHF World Championships, two World Junior Championships, three games in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and seven NHL regular-season games. It was the home rink to Jokerit, which played in the KHL. It was Finland’s premier hockey venue.

4. Lanxess Arena, Cologne
Opened: 1996
Capacity: 18,500

The largest full-time hockey venue within the European Union is in Cologne, Germany. Since its opening in 1996, Lanxess Arena has hosted three World Championships and drawn very strong attendance. The NHL also put one game here in the 2004 World Cup.

Cologne is also the hometown of Leon Draisaitl, which would make this arena a great place to showcase probably the greatest German hockey player ever and, possibly, the greatest German hockey team ever, in a best-on-best tournament.

If there’s a drawback, it’s that the NHL still hasn’t announced the format, and it’s not known yet whether Germany will be part of an eight-team tournament or have to qualify ahead of time. In the latter case, it’s highly unlikely that Germany would get to host the European group.

5. Uber Arena, Berlin
Opened: 2008
Capacity: 14,200

Or if the NHL wanted to go to Germany, would they pick Berlin instead? It’s definitely a larger and more accessible city. The NHL also put a preseason game there in 2019 when the Chicago Blackhawks visited Eisbären Berlin.

However, the same question marks surrounding Cologne apply to Berlin as well – it’ll only happen if Germany qualifies directly as one of the eight initial teams.

2026 Olympics will see best German team everThe Germans have had some very good results internationally in recent years, including a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics and another silver at the 2023 IIHF World Championship. They’ve had some very good young talent to work with but they haven’t had a chance to put all of their best players together on one team since the 2010 Winter Olympics. They’ve improved a lot since then. In fact, it’s no stretch to say the 2026 Winter Olympics will feature the greatest German ice hockey team ever assembled.

6. Nokia Arena, Tampere
Opened: 2021
Capacity: 13,455

Tampere’s Nokia Arena has become Finland’s premier hockey venue in the last few years. Like Helsinki and Stockholm, the smaller capacity is a bit of a drawback, and it’s a much less accessible city than those other two – Tampere has only a minor airport, with Helsinki’s international airport a two-hour drive away.

Nokia Arena would be further up the list if Helsinki weren’t back in play. Even without Helsinki, though, this one feels like a long shot with some of the other choices available.

7. Swiss Life Arena, Zurich
Opened: 2022
Capacity: 11,157

The NHL and the IIHF recently came to an agreement to send NHL players to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy and possibly 2030 in France. As good as relations seem to be right now, the IIHF has been vocal about its opposition to a major international non-Olympic hockey tournament in Europe in February. Putting the European group in the city where the IIHF’s head offices are located feels like something unlikely to happen.

NHL Players Can Officially Play In 2026 Olympics. What About 2030?The IIHF, NHL and NHLPA all signed an agreement to officially allow NHL players to participate in the 2026 Olympics – and potentially the 2030 edition.