FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 is set to begin with Rio 2016 Olympic champions Argentina taking on South Africa at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on January 13.
Later in the day, the action will move to the newly-built Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela – the second venue for the FIH World Cup, where the Indian men’s hockey team faces Spain in a Pool D fixture.
The hockey World Cup, in its 15th edition, will see 16 countries, divided into four pools (A-D), competing for the title. During the group stage, each team will play three hockey matches.
FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 groups
Pool A: Australia, South Africa, France, Argentina
Pool B: Belgium, Japan, Korea, Germany
Pool C: Netherlands, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand
Pool D: India, Wales, Spain, England
The four pool winners will advance to the quarter-finals while the teams finishing second and third in their pools will have to play crossover matches for the remaining four quarter-final spots.
World No. 1 Australia, in Pool A, are clubbed with Argentina and will play them on January 16.
Defending champions Belgium will face two-time champions Germany in Pool B. The two sides will meet on January 17. Pakistan, the most successful team at the hockey World Cup with four titles, failed to qualify for the 2023 edition.
In all, 24 pool-stage matches will be played till January 20. Crossovers begin on January 22, followed by quarter-finals, classification matches, semi-finals, and the FIH World Cup final on January 29 at the Kalinga Stadium.
The Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium will host 20 of the 44 hockey World Cup matches. The remaining 24 matches, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final, will be played at the Kalinga Stadium. The classification matches will be played at the Birsa Munda Stadium.
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