Men's Hockey World Cup 2023: India starts campaign against Spain on 13th Jan

The upcoming 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup will kick off on 13th January 2023 with Argentina taking on South Africa in the opening fixture.

The thrilling encounter between these two powerhouses of international hockey will take place on 13 January 2023 in the iconic Kalinga Stadium of Bhubaneswar, which hosted the last Men's World Cup final in 2018.

The second match of the day in Bhubaneswar will see the world's number one Australia taking on France, in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup quarter-final.

The hosts and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists India, who are currently world No. 5 in the FIH rankings, are clubbed alongside England (6), Spain (8) and World Cup debutants Wales (16) in pool D.

India will play their second match in Rourkela, against on England on January 15, before moving to the capital city of Bhubaneswar, where they will face Wales in their final group match on January 19.

In total, 44 matches will be played, with the Final scheduled on 29 January in Bhubaneswar.

On the draw held on 8th September, India was drawn in Pool D with England, Wales and Spain. This world cup will see Chile and Wales making their debut on the global stage.

Here are the four Pools:

Pool A: Australia, Argentina, France, South Africa

Pool B: Belgium, Germany, Korea, Japan

Pool C: Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia, Chile

Pool D: India, England, Spain, Wales

Reigning world champions Belgium are the top seed and they were drawn in Pool B along with 2006 winners Germany, Korea and Japan. Belgium is ranked second while Germany is fourth.

Pool C will feature last edition finalists the Netherlands, ranked third in the world, along with Oceania representative New Zealand, Malaysia -- playing their ninth World Cup -- and debutants Chile.

Top teams from each pool will directly qualify for the quarter-finals while the second and third-ranked teams will play crossovers to fix a place in the last eight.

(With PTI Inputs)