USA Hockey announced Friday that the Twin Cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., will serve as host of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
ST. PAUL - USA Hockey announced today that the Twin Cities will host the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.
The 2026 event marks the 50th anniversary of the IIHF World Junior Championship. The Minnesota Wild's home rink in St. Paul, which seats about 18,000, and the University of Minnesota campus's rink in Minneapolis, which seats 10,000, will serve as the competition venues.
"Minnesota is thrilled to host the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship - another major sporting event that brings excitement and an economic boost to the state," said Tim Walz, governor of the state of Minnesota in a media release. "We look forward to welcoming teams and fans from across the globe and showing everyone what it means to be the State of Hockey."
This will be the seventh time that the U.S. will host the World Juniors and the second time that Minnesota will.
"We don't have the chance to host this tournament often and we are thrilled to partner with our friends in Minnesota to stage what we know will be a fantastic World Junior Hockey Championship," said Mike Trimboli, president of USA Hockey in a media release. "The tournament has become such a staple of the holiday season and something fans look forward to with great anticipation every year."