Last month, the entire sporting world came together for the 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States. Culminating with a victory by Spain, the tournament was the product of years of planning and hard work by soccer clubs from around the world.

The day after Spain hoisted the trophy, the NHL put out a cheeky reminder of their own.

The next major World Cup to be held in North America will be the 2028 edition of the World Cup of Hockey, being hosted jointly by Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta and Prague, Czechia. Rather than the mammoth 48 team FIFA World Cup, a product of soccer’s worldwide reach and the fact that the soccer calendar is built around the World Cup, hockey’s version is more focused, including just eight teams.

With the opening of Scotia Place in Calgary now just one year away, hockey fans are a bit curious: which teams could be at the World Cup of Hockey, and which Calgary Flames players may be representing their team in the big event?

Canada and Czechia are hosting games, which means they’re both locks to be involved. Canada will anchor the North American pool, with Czechia anchoring the European pool. Virtual locks are the remaining four teams from the 4 Nations Face-Off: the United States, Sweden and Finland.

The three remaining spots are a bit more of a conversation.

Russia has not participated in any event endorsed by the International Ice Hockey Federation since Feb. 2022, when they and Belarus were formally suspended by the IIHF following the invasion of Ukraine. Now, the IIHF had been barring Russia (and Belarus) on a year-by-year basis as the war in Ukraine has continued, citing “safety and security concerns.” In May, the IIHF’s Disciplinary Committee overturned that blanket ruling, and the IIHF has stated they will evaluate Russia’s eligibility on an event-by-event basis.

To make a long, ugly story short, Russia’s status is administratively complicated, but fundamentally as long as the war in Ukraine is continuing the major European ice hockey federations have made it clear in public statements that they wouldn’t take part in events where Russia is involved. Unless these stances drastically change – or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ends – we’re assuming no Russia at the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.

The three national federations with the highest IIHF men’s rankings that aren’t already World Cup locks would be Switzerland, Germany and Slovakia, so they seem like pretty safe bets to fill the three remaining spots.

There are five Flames players that we think have pretty decent chances to play at the World Cup in 2028, depending on how things go this coming season.

The sentimental favourite for Flames fans will likely be Mikael Backlund of Sweden. The World Cup takes place a month before Backlund’s 39th birthday, and the Flames captain will be in the second and final year of a contract extension he inked last September. Backlund has built a pretty extensive international resume, and he was in the mix for both the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Winter Olympics, but didn’t end up locking down a spot. He’ll likely remain in the mix as long as he’s one of the league’s top two-way players.

The other four potential Flames at the World Cup are on the younger side.

First up, goaltender Dustin Wolf of the United States. Wolf was one of the NHL’s top goaltenders in 2024-25 as a rookie but his numbers slid back into the mushy middle in 2025-26 as the Flames went through a bunch of roster changes. Nevertheless, Wolf probably won’t force himself into the starting job for the USA… but he’s definitely on USA Hockey’s radar and could play his way onto the roster in the second or third goaltending slot.

The remaining three players would all be with Slovakia: Simon Nemec, Martin Pospisil and Sam Honzek. Nemec and Pospisil were both on the Olympic team that finished fourth back in February, while Honzek probably would have made the team, too, if not for his season-ending injury in November.

Suffice it to say: if there’s a lot of Flames representation at the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, it’s probably going to be on Slovakia’s roster.