Brno emerges as a strong contender for the 2030 World Juniors, fueled by a new arena and a passionate hockey fanbase.
During TSN’s telecast of the IIHF World Junior Championship semifinals, it was reported that the 2030 World Juniors would be held in Brno, Czechia.
After this year’s tournament, the next three World Juniors have already been assigned to Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., Tampere and Turku, Finland, and Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres, Que. According to the IIHF website, Czechia is the lone applicant so far for the 2030 edition, but no host cities are mentioned. The 2031 World Juniors will reportedly return to the United States.
Brno would make complete sense. It is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic with a population over 400,000, is home to a professional team with a huge fan base, and is only 90 minutes by highway and railway from Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. Add to that the strong contingent of Canadian fans that tends to follow the tournament to Europe, and Brno could draw healthy crowds for three teams.
Due to its lack of a large enough venue, however, Brno hasn’t until now been high on the country’s list of host cities for major international events.
Winning Group Arena, formerly Hala Rondo, with a capacity of 7,700, was chosen to host the 2012 U18 Worlds, but that became a logistical nightmare when eighth-seeded Kometa Brno made an unexpected run to the Extraliga finals. Because of that, some games had to be moved to a third venue and local interest in the international tournament was almost nil. Winning Group Arena also co-hosted the U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last August.
However, a new 12,206-capacity arena is scheduled to open in Brno later in 2026, and it’s nearly a given that the new rink will host a major international event some time soon after its opening. A little over a year ago, it was speculated that it may team up with Budapest, Hungary, to co-host the 2029 senior-level men’s Worlds, but that plan never came to fruition.
As for a secondary venue, it seems that Winning Group Arena will remain open for the near future, at least. Another intriguing option would be Horácká Arena in Jihlava, the 5,500-seat home to Dukla Jihlava, which opened in October 2025 and is just an hour away from Brno by highway.
Czechia has previously hosted the World Juniors in 1994 (Ostrava and Frýdek-Mistek), 2000 (Pardubice and Hradec Králové), 2008 (Pardubice and Liberec), and 2020 (Ostrava and Třinec). The 2020 tournament drew 173,474 fans to 31 games for an average of 5,596 – the third-highest for a World Junior Championship in Europe.
Czechia holds the records for the highest attendance at a men’s IIHF World Championship (2024 in Prague and Ostrava) and Women’s World Championship (2025 in České Budějovice).
Petr Sikora Scores Another Birthday Goal in World Junior Quarterfinals; Ready For Canada In Semis
Birthday goals fuel Petr Sikora's explosive quarterfinals performance, setting the stage for a revenge rematch against powerhouse Canada in the semifinals.