The U20 competitions will be played in Tampere and Turku at the turn of the year 2027–28.
Little lions celebrated the goal in December 2023. Jussi Nukari / AOP
The major youth hockey tournament returns to Finland. The World Championships for under-20s will be played at the turn of the year 2027–28 in Tampere and Turku, The Finnish Ice Hockey Federation announced on Tuesday.
The tournament starts on Boxing Day, December 26, 2027 and culminates in the final match on January 5, 2028. The matches will be played at Tampere’s Nokia Arena and Turku’s Gatorade Center.
Chairman of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association and the Games Organizing Committee Heikki Hietanen describes the youth WC tournament as one of the most spectacular events in international hockey.
– The Youth World Cup tournament is an exceptionally great sporting event, which has grown in popularity year by year. It’s great to have the games in Finland. Tampere and Turku offer teams a first-class framework to aim for the world championship, Hietanen states in the press release.
The Youth World Cup was last seen in Finland in January 2016. At that time, the tournament culminated in memorable moments at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, when the Little Lions celebrated the world championship in front of the home crowd.
In the final, Finland defeated Russia in overtime and completed the decisive hit Kasperi Kapanen.
The Youth World Championships have also been organized in Finland in 1980, 1985, 1990, 1998 and 2004.
Men’s value competitions
The Men’s World Championships were played in Tampere in 2023. Petri Saarelainen / AOP
At the same time, the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation announced that Finland and Latvia, which organized the 2023 Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship, will jointly apply to host the 2030 World Ice Hockey Championship.
According to the plan, the decisive moments of the tournament would be seen in Finland, when the semi-finals and medal games are planned to be played in front of a Finnish audience. The initial series phase would be divided between the countries in such a way that in both competition cities it would be possible to watch the matches of the respective national teams on site.
– The cooperation with Latvia worked excellently for the 2023 games and it will continue in the next home games as well, Hietanen said in the press release.
The actual competition application must be submitted to the International Ice Hockey Federation no later than January 12, 2026. The final decision on the organizer of the 2030 World Cup will be made at the IIHF Congress, which will meet in May 2026 in Switzerland in connection with the spring World Cup tournament.