The coronavirus pandemic in 2020 has affected many sports tournaments, including the Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland. Its cancellation has not caused the postponement of the next tournaments, but rather the opposite; they have regained importance. The upcoming World Cup venues will be as follows.
1. Minsk (Belarus) and Riga (Latvia) 2021
The capital of Belarus, Minsk, hosted the Ice Hockey World Championship in 2014. In contrast, Latvia’s capital, Riga, hosted the event in 2006. The joint candidacy of both cities has been outstanding because it has brought together two neighboring countries with very different political systems thanks to hockey.
2. Helsinki and Tampere (Finland) 2022
Due to its geographical location and sporting tradition, Finland is one of the most important countries in the world of hockey. That is why it managed to succeed with the joint candidacy of Helsinki and Tampere. These two cities have already organized these games many times. Both together hosted the World Championship in 1982 and with Turku in 1991 and 1997. Also, Helsinki hosted the World Championship alone in 1974, and along with Stockholm (Sweden) in 2012 and 2013. Also, Tampere hosted the World Championship in 1965.
3. St. Petersburg (Russia) 2023
Russia is the team with the most championships won. That success is the principal mark that makes hockey the Russian national sport. St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, will host the Ice Hockey World Championship for the third time in 2023, after the 2000 championship and the 2013 championship shared with Moscow.
4. Prague and Ostrava (Czech Republic) 2024
The Czech Republic is the third country with the most gold medals in the championship, and that is due to its early success. Prague has hosted in 1933, 1938, 1947, 1959 (with Bratislava), 1972, 1978, 1985, 1992 (with Bratislava), 2004 and 2015 (with Ostrava). The 2024 edition will try to repeat the success of the joint venues in these two cities.