Just hours before the 4 Nations Face-off begins, another international tournament is set to return: the World Cup of Hockey.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Wednesday that the World Cup of Hockey would return for 2028 and 2032 and is part of a broader strategy to alternate with the Winter Olympics starting in 2026, followed by the World Cup in 2028, and continuing this rotation every two years.
Gary Bettman officially announces the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.
Olympics and World Cup are going to rotate every two years starting in 2026 Olympics, 2028 WCH, 2030 Olympics, 2032 WCH, etc.
Locations TBD, bids will be solicited by NHL/NHLPA.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 12, 2025
The World Cup of Hockey, first held in 1996, is an international tournament featuring the world’s top national teams. The 2026 edition will be the fourth in the tournament’s history, following previous events in 1996, 2004, and 2016. Unlike the Olympic tournament and Ice Hockey World Championships, governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the NHL and NHLPA are organizing the World Cup of Hockey.
The last World Cup in 2016 included six standard national teams — Canada, the USA, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and the Czech Republic — and two hybrid teams: Team Europe and Team North America.
Team Europe consisted of players from smaller European nations, while Team North America comprised 23-and-under players from Canada and the USA. The 2028 tournament will abandon this format and feature only traditional national teams with at least eight participating countries.
World Cup of Hockey is coming back in 2028, Gary Bettman says.
Details:
-Cities can bid to host games, could see games played in Europe
-at least 8 teams, no gimmick teams like in 2016
-plan to play it every 4 years and also go to Olympics
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) February 12, 2025
Another change for 2028 is the possibility of games being played outside North America. Cities will be able to bid to host games, which indicates that some matches could take place in Europe.
Ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, the NHL is hosting the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in February 2025 (currently underway), featuring Canada, the U.S., Sweden, and Finland. This event serves as somewhat of a preview of high-level international play leading into the Olympics.
The NHL and NHLPA are finalizing the details of the 2028 World Cup, aiming to establish a long-term, sustainable model for international hockey. The alternating schedule with the Olympics is designed to provide consistent opportunities for NHL players to represent their countries while maintaining a structured international competition rotation.
Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson takes on head coach Rick Tocchet at 5 pm PST on Wednesday for the opening game of the tournament.
