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.
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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.
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