FIH Hockey World Cup 2026: All Pools and Groups Explained

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The FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 is one of the biggest events on the hockey calendar this year, with both the Men's and Women's tournaments jointly hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands, running from August 14 to 30.




Men's World Cup — The Pools

Pool A features Netherlands, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan; Pool B has Belgium, Germany, France and Malaysia; Pool C includes Australia, Spain, Ireland and South Africa; and Pool D brings together India, England, Pakistan and Wales. 

The standout storyline is India vs Pakistan. The two rivals, sharing a history of conflict and partition, land in the same group for the first time at a World Cup in 16 years, with their last meeting coming in the 2010 edition in New Delhi, where India won 4-1. This time, they meet on August 19 at Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, kicking off at 6:30pm IST. 

Women's World Cup — The Pools

Pool A consists of Netherlands, Australia, Chile and Japan; Pool B has Argentina, Germany, United States and Scotland; Pool C features Belgium, Spain, New Zealand and Ireland; and Pool D includes India, China, England and South Africa.

India's women open their campaign in a group alongside China, England and South Africa — a tough test right from the start of the tournament.



Tournament Format

Each team plays every other side in their pool once during the group stage. The top two teams from each pool advance to a second round to form two new groups, carrying forward points earned against qualified opponents. The top two from each second-round group then progress to the semi-finals, while classification matches decide the remaining final standings. 

Defending Champions

Germany enter as the defending men's champions from 2023, while the Netherlands hold the women's title from the 2022 edition — both will be looking to defend their crowns under this newly revised, quarter-final-free format.

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