2023 hockey World Cup in India

MUMBAI: Having hosted the last edition of the men’s hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar in December 2018, India on Friday bagged the rights to host the next edition of the quadrennial event too. The 15th edition will be held from January 13-29, 2023, at a venue to be decided by Hockey India (HI). India overcame bids from Malaysia and reigning world champions Belgium and will become the first country to host the event for the fourth time since its inception in 1971 after Bombay (1982), New Delhi (2010) and Bhubaneswar (2018).

The women’s World Cup will be co-hosted by Spain and Netherlands from July 1-17, 2022—the first time the tournament will be hosted by two nations. Besides Spain/Netherlands, Malaysia, Germany and New Zealand were also in the race for the women’s event. The international hockey federation (FIH) had completed evaluation of the bids on Wednesday with the FIH Executive Board taking the decision on Friday at Lausanne. Both the World Cups will be competed among 16 teams each.

In the men’s section, hosts India have earned an automatic berth while the five continental champions will also get direct berths. The remaining 10 teams will qualify through home-andaway play-offs.

For the women’s competition both co-hosts get automatic berths while nine qualifiers will be decided via home-and-away playoffs. The matches in the tournament proper will be shared with both countries hosting two pools each in the preliminary phase. Both Spain and the Netherlands will host two crossover matches and two quarter-finals each with Spain conducting the final phase—two semis, bronze medal play-off and the final.