Tickets for ice hockey’s highest-profile annual international tournament have gone on public sale with tickets available across all games. The world’s best 16 teams will compete from 12-28 May 2023 to determine who will come out on top. The 2023 World Championship will see games held in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia.
Despite next year’s edition being the 10th time Finland has hosted or co-hosted the tournament, the 2022 World Championship was the first time they won a medal on home ice. That tournament had games at Helsinki Ice Hall and Tampere Deck Arena (otherwise known as Nokia Arena) with the latter hosting the thrilling final where Finland beat Canada in 3-on-3 overtime much to the delight of the home crowds. Nokia Arena is also one of the hosts of the 2023 World Championship along with Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia.
The preliminary stage sees the teams divided into 2 pools of 8 teams:
- Pool A – Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, United States
- Pool B – Canada, Czechia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland
Pool A games will be held in Tampere and Pool B games will be held in Riga.
As you can see, there are already some tasty matchups on the cards with Finland, Sweden, and the United States all in the same pool. Finland play the States on 12 May and then Sweden on 15 May. In Pool B, Canada will play Switzerland on 20 May and Czechia on 23 May.
After the pool stage, the 4 best-performing teams from each pool will progress to the quarterfinals where they will play an opposing team from the other pool. The winners of the quarterfinals will go on to play in the semifinals, with the losers of the semifinals playing each other in a 3rd place playoff and the winners playing each other in the final. Quarterfinals 2 and 4 (25 May) will be held in Riga, and quarterfinals 1 and 3 (25 May), the semifinals 1 and 2 (27 May), 3rd place playoff match (28 May), and the final (28 May) will take place in Tampere.
Tickets are sold as day tickets meaning they cover all of the games at one of the venues on a specific day. Seating is in categories with Tampere split into Premium, Category 1, Category 2, and Category 3, and Riga split into Sky Boxes, Category 1, and Category 2. VIP packages are also on sale for Finland’s group-stage games and for the latter stages of the competition. Some of the cheapest tickets in Riga are EUR €80 and in Tampere they can be as affordable as €25!
Fans can enjoy an early festive treat by purchasing tickets to the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship here!