Host cities chosen for 2028 World Juniors in Finland

One of the biggest tournaments in all of hockey is set to return to Scandinavia in two years.

On Tuesday, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced that Tampere and Turku, Finland, will be the host sites for the 2028 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Tampere has been a mainstay as part of the IIHF scene for well over 60 years. Starting at the 1965 IIHF Men’s World Championship, the city has either hosted or co-hosted the Men’s Worlds seven times, the 1992 IIHF Women’s World Championship and the 2007 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship. 2027 will mark the second time Tampere has been part of the World Juniors, as it hosted the last unofficial tournament in 1976, along with Turku, Pori and Rauma.

It’s been a while since Turku has been part of a major international tournament. This will be the first time the city has been part of the WJC since Canada won gold in 1990. Turku was also a co-host of the Men’s Worlds three times, last doing so in 2003. Canada has won gold four times when Turku has been part of an event, finishing atop the podium at the 1997 and 2003 Men’s World Championship, and the 1985 WJC.

Including that first trip to Finland in 1976, 2028 will mark the eighth time the country has hosted the World Juniors, and first since Suomi’s memorable run to the gold medal in 2016. That team was headlined by a group of future NHLers – Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho, Kasperi Kapanen, Kaapo Kahkonen and Jesse Puljujarvi.

Finland has medaled four times on home ice at the WJC. The nation also won gold in 1998, taking home the silver in 1980 and bronze in 2004.

Heading into this year’s WJC, Finland has won the fourth-most medals in tournament history with 18. They trail Russia/Soviet Union (37), Canada (35) and Sweden (21). Suomi is also tied for the third-most bronze medals at the WJC, as they, Sweden and the United States each have seven third-place finishes.