The International Hockey Federation has revealed the match schedules of both upcoming FIH Indoor Hockey World Cups, Men’s and Women’s.
In the 6th edition of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup, 12 men’s and 12 women’s national indoor hockey teams will go head-to-head to be crowned indoor hockey world champions between 5-11 February in Pretoria, South Africa.
The FIH Women’s Indoor World Cup will begin with Pool A action as hosts South Africa face off against Austria. USA, who have qualified for their second straight appearance at the Indoor World Cup will then take on Australia, who are the only team other than Netherlands, to play in all 6 editions of the Women’s Indoor World cup. Netherlands, who have five consecutive top-2 finishes and are the defending silver medalists, will begin their campaign in the 3rd game of the day, taking on debutants New Zealand.
The opening match on day 1 of the FIH Men’s Indoor World Cup will see Australia face off against host nation South Africa in Pool B action. Netherlands and Namibia play in the 4th men’s game of the day to begin the competition in Pool A. Defending champions Austria then play against New Zealand in the 5th men’s match of the opening day, in the quest to retain their title.
All 12 teams in each event will play one pool match each day, from the 5th to 9th February. The top-4 teams in each pool will then proceed to the quarter-finals, while the 5th and 6th placed teams will face off in the 9-12 positional play-off games.
The full match schedule and the list of officials for the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup 2023 can be found here.
In the Women’s Indoor World Cup, the 12 participating teams have been placed in 2 pools of 6 teams each.
Pool A: Netherlands, Austria, Australia, United States, South Africa, New Zealand
Pool B: Ukraine, Czech Republic, Namibia, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Canada
In the Men’s Indoor World Cup, the 12 participating teams have been placed in 2 pools of 6 teams each.
Pool A: Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Namibia, New Zealand
Pool B: Iran, Czech Republic, Australia, South Africa, United States, Argentina
Argentina men and New Zealand women have qualified for the respective Indoor Hockey World Cups for the first time.
Austria are the current Men’s Indoor Hockey World Champions, having defeated Germany in the finals of the 2018 edition. Germany are the current Women’s Indoor Hockey World Champions, getting the better of Netherlands in the finals of the 2018 edition.
