World Cup Host
The men’s edition of the Hockey World Cup is just around the corner. It will be held between the 13th and the 29th of January and hosted in India. Similarly to the women’s event, there will be two venues this time around, which seems to be a new concept being tried out by the international governing body, the FIH. During the first round, the games will be played at the 16,000 capacity Kalinga Stadium, in Bhubaneswar, and the newly constructed Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, in Rourkela, which can hold 21,000 spectators. India is a country with a wonderful hockey culture, dating back to their legendary player Major Dhyan Chand and the Golden Years of Olympic success between 1928 and 1959. Many players talk about playing in India, against India as one of the highlights of their career. It should be a fun tournament.
The Republic of India is located in the southern region of Asia. It is the most populous democracy in the world, second only in terms of population size to that of China. It is a largely coastal country, with the Arabian Sea to the West, the Indian Ocean to the South and the Bay of Bengal to the East. India is extremely diverse, with many religions represented across the country. Hinduism is the largest culture, but there are also many Muslims, Christians and Sikh’s (predominately in the Northern Punjab region), making up the broad society.
There are many sports and recreation activities that are played within India. Chess was supposedly invented here, with Kabbadi also being rather popular. The main sports, however, include football, cricket and field hockey. Here, with the latter game, they have found a large amount of success. The Golden Years of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team, saw them win every Olympic Games tournament, between 1928 and 1956. There is a strong pedigree within the host nation.
World Cup Teams
The host nation will be amongst the favourites for the tournament, who are coached by former Australian Olympian Graham Reid, with star players Manpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh and captain Harmanpreet Singh. However, there will be tough competition travelling over to Asia. The Netherlands were amongst the top seeds for the first round draw, but the top two teams in the world right now are Belgium and Australia. The Belgians, who won the 2018 edition, will be bringing an array of talent with the to the tournament, with the vastly experienced John-John Dohmen, the splendid Arthur Van Doren and Tom Boon of Royal Leopold Club. The Australians, will be showing their gun and run style of play, who’s talent pool include co-captains Eddie Ockenden and Aran Zalewski, goalkeeper Andrew Charter and midfielder Jake Whetton.
There’s some form here, a bit of history, from previous tournaments. Belgium and Australia have been vying for the top spot in the world for several years, having come up against each other at the 2020/21 Olympic Games Grande Finale. Additionally, Australia has recently played against the Indian men’s side in the 2022 Commonwealth Games Final, where they thrashed their opponents 7-0, presumably prompting the World Cup hosts to want to set the record straight. These are the front runners, however, there are several other teams that will be wanting to put their name into the hat in the latter rounds.
In the early 2000’s Germany won the World Cup twice in a row, most recently in 2006. I’ll be excited about watching their exciting and energetic forward Christopher Rühr. They have also named short corner specialist, Gonzalo Peillat, in their squad who has recently defected from the Argentine National team, his country of birth. Argentina themselves, are a strong side, who won the Olympic hockey tournament in 2016. The English will be looking to do well, hoping to go one better than their solitary silver medal from 1986. The dark horses, those who could cause an upset and have an affect on the outcome of these championships, will include Spain, New Zealand, Malaysia and Wales. Spanish forward Enrique González will be looking to get on the score sheet, as will Kiwi striker Simon Child. There are several Welsh players who will be looking to make a difference for their side, as well as show off the skill sets of British hockey from outside of the better known English programme. Bustling midfielder Rupert Shipperley and defender Jacob Draper are both currently in the Great Britain Olympic squad, with Daniel Kyriakides having gained GB caps in recent years and is now playing overseas for Bundesliga side Club an der Alster.
Additionally, Japan has qualified as continental champions of Asia, similarly with South Africa, who won the African Cup of Nations. South Africa, nicknamed Ama Stokke Stokke, did well at the recent Commonwealth Games, coming fourth, just behind England. They also won the inaugural FIH Nations Cup, in order to get promoted to the Pro League. Two of their forwards showed their attacking prowess at this tournament, who happen to be brothers. 24 year old Dayaan Cassiem is the country’s captain and his younger sibling Mustapha will look to be the focal points of the team’s attack.
World Cup Tournament
The first ever World Cup tournament was hosted in Barcelona, Spain, with the inaugural champions being Pakistan. They beat Spain one nil in the Final. India came third, getting over the top of Kenya in the Bronze Medal Match. Initially, the championships were held every two years, but eventually settled onto a four year cycle, starting in 1978. The first time India hosted the event was in 1982, when Bombay acted as the venue. Unfortunately for their fans, they didn’t medal, with Pakistan, West Germany and Australia finishing first, second and third respectively. In fact nobody has hosted the World Cup more often then India, with this being their fourth time, having also held the 2010 and 2018 events in New Delhi and Bhubaneswar.
Pakistan has won the most gold medals at the World Cup, coming second a further two more times. However, they haven’t done so recently, not being in a Grande Finale since Sydney 1994. The Netherlands and Australia have both won the competition three times, however, nobody has medaled more often then the Kookaburras, who in addition to their gold medals, have come second twice and third a further five times, most recently in 2018. That time around, the Australians lost out to Belgium, who won it for the first time in their history and the Dutch, who took home the silver.
This will be an interesting championships. The World Cup will be a strong contest between a variety of national teams, that bring with them a differing styles of play. There will be plenty of sporting entertainment on show, with loads to learn and analyse for the grassroots and club coaches all over the globe. The opening game will be between Argentina and South Africa on the 13th of January. It will be the first of four matches, on that first day, but the headline act will definitely involve the hosts, as India take on Spain. This will undoubtedly be the curtain raiser in front of a sell out crowd. It is definitely be something to look forward to.
