The 2028 World Cup of Hockey will be the fourth installment of the World Cup of Hockey by the National Hockey League. It will be played in February 2028 with 17 games in three host cities. The competition will include eight teams from individual countries in North America and Europe.
Background The previous edition of the World Cup of Hockey was held in 2016, and was the last international ice hockey tournament until 2025 to feature full rosters of National Hockey League players. On February 2, 2024, at a press conference before the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the NHL and NHL Players' Association had reached an agreement to release NHL players for the 2026 and 2030 Olympic Games, as well as bring back the World Cup of Hockey in 2028 and , following an 8-year hiatus on NHL participation in international competitions.
In order to promote the return of NHL players to the international stage, the league organized the 4 Nations Face-Off which was played in February 2025 between Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States.
The 2028 World Cup of Hockey will be the 16th "best-on-best" international tournament to include NHL players. Canada are the defending World Cup of Hockey champions having won the 2016 title, while the United States are the most recent "best-on-best" international champions following their gold medal victory at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Host selection
The NHL had initially announced that the tournament would be played at two venues; one in North America and another in Europe, but had yet to confirm the exact host cities and arenas. On December 9, 2025, the NHL revealed that they had narrowed down the list of potential host cities to 16, with 10 cities bidding for hosting rights in North America, and another 6 cities in Europe. On March 16, 2026, it was announced that Calgary and Edmonton in Canada, and Prague in Czechia will be the host cities. Calgary and Prague will each host six round-robin and one elimination game, while the two semifinal games and the championship game will be held in Edmonton.
It will be the first time since 1987 that Alberta hosted Canada Cup or World Cup of Hockey games, and the first time since 2004 that World Cup of Hockey games were played in Prague.
Venues Scotia Place, Calgary and O2 Arena, Prague will each host a round robin group and one knockout stage game. The semifinals and final will be hosted in Rogers Place, Edmonton. City Stadium Capacity Image Calgary Scotia Place 18,400 Edmonton Rogers Place 18,347 Prague O2 Arena 17,383
Teams The NHL has not announced which teams will be participating, although they have confirmed that all eight teams will be representing individual countries unlike the previous tournament which included Team Europe and Team North America. Canada and Czechia were essentially confirmed as participants when they were announced as the host countries on March 16, 2026. It is presumed that Finland, Sweden, and the United States will also participate, due to their involvement with the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in 2025.
The NHL announced that they were negotiating with the IIHF to ensure that players from outside the NHL can be made available for the tournament, as the non-Big Six teams may otherwise struggle to produce a full roster of NHL players for the tournament.
Russia's participation remains uncertain as they are still under an IIHF suspension due to the Russo-Ukrainian war, and although the NHL is not obligated to enforce this suspension at the World Cup of Hockey, the league had excluded them from the 4 Nations Face-Off and had announced that they will "continue to monitor world events before a decision is made". On March 18, 2026, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly announced that Russia were not likely to be included if the Russo-Ukrainian war was ongoing in 2028. The NHL is also concerned that Russian participation would potentially jeopardize the entire event, as the hockey federations of Czechia, Finland, and Sweden allegedly informed the NHL that they would boycott the tournament if Russia was included.
+Confirmed teams Team Previous appearances Best result Host teams 3 (1996, 2004, 2016) Champions (2004, 2016) 3 (1996, 2004, 2016) Semifinals (2004) Other 4 Nations Face-Off participants 3 (1996, 2004, 2016) Runner-up (2004) 3 (1996, 2004, 2016) Semifinals (1996, 2016) 3 (1996, 2004, 2016) Champions (1996) +Potential teams Team Previous appearances Best result Previous participants in good standing 2 (1996, 2004) Quarterfinals (1996, 2004) 2 (1996, 2004) Quarterfinals (2004) Potential debuts 0 None Previous participants under IIHF suspension 3 (1996, 2004, 2016) Semifinals (1996, 2016)
Group stage North American pool (Calgary)
European pool (Prague)
Knockout stage Bracket
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
Broadcasting In March 2026, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stated that they will open the bidding for the broadcasting rights instead of automatically awarding them to the league's current media partners in Canada, Europe, and the United States.
See also List of international ice hockey competitions featuring NHL players
Notes
References
External links World Cup of Hockey 2028, NHL.com