January 3, 2023 The 15th edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup is about to get underway in just 9 days in Odisha, India. While the World Cup was a relatively late addition to the international hockey calendar, it has now completed over 50 years in existence, with the first edition having been played in 1971. In the 14 editions of the World Cup so far, there have been plenty of mind-boggling records created, and in following editions, surpassed. A look at the statistics of the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup is almost as good as a look at the history of men’s hockey over the past 5 decades, so here is a brief look at the same. The history of the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup can not be written without mentioning Pakistan, the champions of the inaugural edition of the event. Not only did Pakistan win the first ever World Cup, but they are also the team that has won the most World Cups in the men’s event, with 4 gold medals. Through the first 8 editions of the men’s World Cup, Pakistan amassed 4 gold medals and 2 silver medals, making them the most successful team in the World Cup. Pakistan won their 4th gold medal at the World Cup in Sydney in 1994, but no other team has been able to equal their gold medal tally so far. Australia and Netherlands come in next with 3 gold medals each. Australia have won a total of 10 medals at the World Cups, which is the most amongst all nations. Australia’s tally includes 3 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 5 bronze medals. Netherlands have won 9 medals at the Men’s World Cups with 3 golds, 4 silver medals and 2 bronze medals. Both Netherlands and Australia were amongst the medals at the 2018 World Cup, with Netherlands finishing runners-up behind Belgium, while Australia won the bronze medal. Australia last won the gold at the 2014 World Cup, while Netherlands’ wait for a men’s World Cup gold has been really long, having last won the World Cup at the 1998 edition. Netherlands has gotten close to the elusive 4th gold medal at both 2014 and 2018 World Cups, ending with the silver medal at both editions. Germany have won 2 gold medals, with the last one coming in 2006. India and Belgium are the other two teams to have won gold medals at the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup, with India’s victory coming in 1975, while Belgium are the reigning world champions, having won the gold in the 2018 edition. Australia boast of the highest win percentage at the men’s World Cups, winning 69 of the 92 matches they have played in, an astounding 75%! Netherlands have played the most number of matches at the World Cup, completing 100 matches in the finals of the 2018 World Cup, ahead of India, who have played 95 matches. Australia also have produced the most attacking hockey at the World Cups, scoring 307 goals in the 92 matches, at a rate of 3.3 goals per game! Netherlands and Pakistan have the next best scoring averages, with Netherlands averaging 2.67 goals scored per game, and Pakistan averaging 2.64 goals per game. Australia also have a phenomenal defensive record at the World Cups, letting in just 107 goals in their 92 games, at an average of 1.16 per game. India, Netherlands and Spain are the only teams to have appeared in all 14 editions so far, and all three teams will also appear at the upcoming World Cup, making it 15 appearances in a row. Argentina, Australia, England and Pakistan have appeared in 13 editions so far, with only Pakistan missing out on the 2023 edition. A total of 26 nations have competed at the 14 editions of the men’s World Cup so far. Chile and Wales will take the number up to 28 as they make their debut appearances at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela. FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela: Schedule The full match schedule for the World Cup can be found here. Tickets Tickets can be booked here. Pools Pool A: Australia, Argentina, France, South Africa Pool B: Belgium, Germany, Korea, Japan Pool C: Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia, Chile Pool D: India, England, Spain, Wales Teams The squads of  the 16 participating teams can be found here. Officials  The list of Officials is available here. Where to watch? The matches will be shown live on TV or on Watch.Hockey. See full plan here. #HWC2023 #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites

The International Hockey Federation has revealed the pools (two groups of four teams each) and match schedules of both upcoming FIH Hockey Nations Cups, Men’s and Women’s. The FIH Hockey Nations Cup ushers a new dawn of promotion and relegation in the FIH Hockey Pro League with the winning team of the first FIH Hockey Nations Cup having the chance to be promoted to the 2023-24 FIH Hockey Pro League (provided they meet the necessary requirements for it). The FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup will run from 28 November to 4 December 2022, in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The hosts South Africa, will play in Pool A with France, Ireland and Pakistan; while Canada joins the Asian triumvirate of Korea, Japan and Malaysia in the Pool B. The opening match will see two Asian powerhouses go head-to-head as Malaysia take on Korea on 28 November at the North-West University of Potchefstroom to start the new era of international hockey. The Final will be played on 4 December (see full match schedule here). The list of officials for the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup 2022 can be found here. The FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup will run from 11 to 17 December 2022, in Valencia, Spain. The hosts Spain, will play in Pool A with Korea, Ireland and Italy; while India, Japan, Canada and South Africa compete in Pool B. The opening match will be played on 11 December in Valencia between India and Canada; two teams who are very familiar with each other having faced off in the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022 as well as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, within the past two months. The Final will be played on 17 December (see full match schedule here). The list of officials for the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup 2022 can be found here. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. #FIHNationsCup #HockeyInvites #HockeyEquals

1 September 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is pleased to announce that the draw ceremony to determine the pools of the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar – Rourkela will be held on 8 September, at 12 noon IST/ 08h30 CEST, at the Convention Centre, Lok Sewa Bhawan, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. It will be streamed live on Watch.Hockey. The pinnacle of the FIH men’s tournaments will be held from 13 to 29 January 2023 and involve 16 participating national teams. Those include India, as the hosts of the competition, whilst Malaysia, Japan and Korea are the other Asian teams. Africa is represented by South Africa, recent winners of the Africa Cup of Nations. From Europe, the following teams have qualified: Belgium, England, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, France and Wales. Argentina and Chile are the two American teams having booked their ticket for the prestigious tournament, while Australia and New Zealand, from Oceania, complete the draw. The draw will be conducted by FIH CEO Thierry Weil, with the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik also in attendance. The four top teams which include host India, Australia, Belgium and Netherlands will be placed on the first row of their corresponding Pools based on the FIH World Rankings as per 1 June 2022. The draw will start with Row 4 of each Pool, involving the following teams: South Africa, Wales, Japan and Chile. It will then continue with Row 3 of each Pool (involving Spain, Malaysia, France and Korea) and conclude with Row 2 of each Pool (with Germany, England, Argentina and New Zealand). The Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar and the brand-new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela will host the matches, in the state of Odisha, India. In the previous edition, in 2018, Belgium claimed the title by winning the final against Netherlands, while Australia wrapped up the podium places, finishing third. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. #HWC2023 #HockeyInvites #HockeyEquals

16 June 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland: After completion of the bidding process for hosting the 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s and Women’s World Cups, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) is glad to announce that bids from four continents (Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania), to host either one or both World Cups, have been received. The bids are as follows: 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup: Australia (host city: Melbourne/Geelong, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane/Gold Coast – to be confirmed) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) Uruguay (host city: to be confirmed) 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup: England, in partnership with Wales (host cities: to be confirmed) Germany (host city: to be confirmed) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup and 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup combined (= being played at the same time): Belgium/Netherlands (host cities: Wavre and Amstelveen) South Africa (host city: Potchefstroom) The hosts will be decided at the Executive Board meeting on 3 November and announced at the FIH Congress which will be held virtually on 4-5 November this year. FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “On behalf of FIH, I’d like to thank all National Associations who are bidding for our flagship events. We’re looking at really strong, and also diverse, bids here. We will now conduct a thorough analysis of each dossier so that the Event Bidding Task Force is fully informed of all aspects when making their recommendation to the Executive Board.” The FIH Hockey World Cup, for Women like for Men, is the pinnacle of FIH events. Being played every 4 years, both the Men’s and the Women’s World Cup involve sixteen teams amongst the best ones in the world. It will be the sixteenth edition of the World Cups in 2026. The next FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup will be played next month (from 1 to 17 July) in Terrassa, Spain and Amsterdam, Netherlands, whilst the next FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup will take place in January 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, India. #HWC2026   #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please consult FIH.hockey, follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and download the Watch.Hockey app.

In exactly one month, on July 1, the best players in the world will start the greatest show amongst the women’s events organised under the banner of the International Hockey Federation (FIH): the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup! The 15th edition of FIH’s flagship event will be staged in Terrassa, Spain, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Terrassa Olympic Stadium was the hockey venue for the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. The Wagener Stadium, located in Amstelveen, on the outskirts of Amsterdam, has hosted numerous top-flight matches including World Cups, European Championships or FIH Hockey Pro League encounters. The magnificent draw ceremony held on 17 February 2022 in Terrassa, at the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia, produced four really exciting Pools: Pool A: Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Chile Pool B: England, New Zealand, India, China Pool C: Argentina, Spain, Korea, Canada Pool D: Australia, Belgium, Japan, South Africa The opening match will see hosts Spain taking on Canada, on 1 July, in Terrassa. The excitement among the players is mounting! Maria López (ESP) says the team “feels so excited because for us it’s an incredible experience to play at home, with our friends and families cheering for us!”. Phumelela Mbande and Bernadette Coston (RSA) focus on “developing our own brand of hockey, to then playing it consistently at an international stage.” Jane Claxton (AUS) tells about the eagerness of the Hockeyroos to “finally joining back to the world! We’re just thrilled to be able to be traveling again and participating on the international stage.” Eunbi Cheon (KOR) wishes for a better performance this time: “In 2018, we had players injured. But now we’re all ready to go, so at the moment we are very confident about being able to show our best.” Natalie Sourisseau (CAN) thinks “it’s going to be a really great tournament because it’s just a chance to showcase ourselves and showcase our team”. The officials are ready and looking forward to an amazing tournament too! In an exclusive interview with FIH, Kelly Hudson (NZL) and Michelle Meister (GER) tell about the magic memories of the previous edition in London in 2018. Fans still wishing to be part of the July hockey show need to hurry up to book their seats in the stands! Tickets are being sold via the following online ticketing platforms: https://bit.ly/Tickets-Spain (for matches in Spain) https://wkhockey2022.com/ (for matches in the Netherlands) Last but not least, the tournament’s mascot , Lyla – a lovely dragon symbolizing the values of women in Hockey: passion, strength, wisdom, change, courage, vitality, protection and majesty – has already started a “World Tour”, having some great time with all the teams ahead of the event. In short, all ingredients are there to enjoy a truly amazing event of world-class hockey in just 30 days! #HWC2022 #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please visit FIH.hockey, follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and download the Watch.Hockey app.