Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018: Bhubaneswar

Men’s Hockey World Cup

Sport: Field hockey
Founded: 1971
No. of teams: 12
Continent: International (FIH)
Most recent champion(s): Australia (3rd title)
Most titles: Pakistan (4 titles)
2018 Official website: https://www.worldcup2018.hockey/

Hockey World Cup: About The Event

The Men’s Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1971. It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer Olympics.

There is also a Women’s Hockey World Cup, which has been held since 1974 and was organised by the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations (IFWHA) until 1981, when the governing bodies merged into the current International Hockey Federation in 1982.

Five countries have dominated the event’s history. Pakistan is the most successful team, having won the tournament four times. The Netherlands and Australia have won three titles, and Germany has each won two titles. India won the tournament once.

The 2014 tournament was held in The Hague, Netherlands from 2 to 14 June. Australia defeated Netherlands 6–1 in the final, to win their third World Cup title. The 2018 tournament will be held in Bhubaneswar, India from 28 November to 16 December. The World Cup will expand to 16 teams in 2018, and FIH will evaluate the possibility of increasing it to 24 in 2022.

Hockey World Cup: History

The Hockey World Cup was first conceived by Pakistan’s Air Marshal Nur Khan. He proposed his idea to the FIH through Patrick Rowley, the first editor of World Hockey magazine. Their idea was approved on 26 October 1969, and adopted by the FIH Council at a meeting in Brussels on 12 April 1970. The FIH decided that the inaugural World Cup would be held in October 1971, in Pakistan.

However, political issues would prevent that first competition from being played in Pakistan. The FIH had inadvertently scheduled the first World Cup to be played in Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Furthermore, Pakistan and India had been at war with each other only six years earlier. When Pakistan invited India to compete in the tournament, a crisis arose. Pakistanis, led by cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar, protested against India’s participation in the Hockey World Cup.

Given the intense political climate between Pakistan and India, the FIH decided to move the tournament elsewhere. In March 1971, coincidentally in the same month Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan, the FIH decided to move the first Hockey World Cup to the Real Club de Polo grounds in Barcelona, Spain, which was considered a neutral and peaceful European site.

The FIH has set no requirements or limitations on the size of the competition. The 1971 Cup included only ten nations, the smallest World Cup to date. The 1978 Cup featured fourteen nations. The 2002 Cup featured sixteen nations, the largest World Cup to date. The remaining 9 World Cups have featured 12 nations.

The first three tournaments were held every two years. The 1978 cup was the only tournament held three years from the previous one. It was halfway between the Summer Olympics hockey competition and has continued that way. In other words, the tournament has been held every four years ever since.

Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018

The 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup will be the 14th edition of the Hockey World Cup field hockey tournament. It is scheduled to be held from 28 November to 16 December 2018, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India.

A warm welcome and best wishes to all teams participating in the Hockey Men's World Cup 2018, being held in Odisha. I am sure this tournament will be a treat for sports lovers and will also be an opportunity to discover India’s and especially Odisha’s culture. @FIH_Hockey

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 27, 2018

Men’s Hockey World Cup: Qualification

Due to the increase to 16 participating teams, the new qualification process was announced in July 2015 by the International Hockey Federation. Each of the continental champions from five confederations and the host nation received an automatic berth, and the 10/11 highest placed teams at the Semifinals of the 2016–17 FIH Hockey World League not already qualified would enter the tournament. The following sixteen teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, will compete in this tournament.

The 16 teams were drawn into four groups, each containing four teams. Each team plays each other team in its group once. The first-placed team in each group advances to the quarter-finals, while the second and third placed teams in each group go into the crossover matches. From there on a single-elimination tournament will be played.