Hockey World Cup 2023: India Squad, Schedule, Past Records and more

India is all set to host the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023, which gets underway on 13 January. India will be hosting the FIH Men’s World Cup 2023 in Odisha in about two days time as the competition gets underway on 13 January. Also read: Top 5 favourites to win the trophy As many as 16 countries will feature in the tournament with matches taking place at Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium and Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. Is this the first time India is hosting a hockey World Cup? This is neither India’s nor Odisha’s first hockey World Cup as the nation first hosted the 2010 edition in New Delhi. Bhubaneswar alone hosted the last edition of the event in 2018. When are India’s matches and where do they play? The Graham Reid-coach India are in Pool D with Spain, England, and Wales. India will play two of the matches in Rourkela (against Spain and England respectively) and then will head to the Odisha capital to face Wales in the final pool match. India vs Spain on 13 January at 7 PM India vs England on 15 January at 7 PM India vs Wales on 19 January at 7 PM Who all are in India’s squad?

With the senior duo back in the defense line, India will have some of the best games at the World Cup. 💪🏑#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HWC2023 #StarsBecomeLegends @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/9FBTAvcEtL

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 11, 2023

Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Pathak Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Nilam Sanjeep Xess Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh Alternate Players: Rajkumar Pal, Jugraj Singh Who is India’s star player? Forward Manpreet Singh is the team’s star player as he led India to a historic bronze medal success at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Manpreet, however, won’t be leading the side at this World Cup as dragflick expert Harmanpreet Singh is in charge of the team since last year. How India fared in Men’s Hockey World Cup in the past? India, who have won a record eight gold medals at the Olympics, won the World Cup in 1975 for the first time. However, since the maiden success, the national team never tasted success again. In fact, 1975 was also the last time India featured in the semi-finals. However, their quarter-final appearance in 2018, where they lost to finalists Netherlands, was a creditable display and reflected on the growing stature of the hockey team in the recent past. Since 1982, this is also the first time India will play a World Cup as an Olympic medallist. How are the remaining Pools have lined up? Pool A: Australia, Argentina, France and South Africa. Pool B: Belgium, Germany, South Korea and Japan. Pool C: Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia and Chile. How do teams progress from the pool to knockout stages? Unlike the usual format we see in FIFA World Cups, where top two teams progress, the hockey World Cup will only allow the top team a direct progress to the quarter-finals. The second- and third-placed teams will play a cross-over round (eight teams) to decide the remaining four sports of the quarter-finals. In case two teams are tied for a spot in the pool stages, the rules for breaking the tie are: a) If at the end of the pool matches two or more teams have the same number of points for any place in a pool, these teams will be ranked according to their respective number of matches won. b) If there remains equality among two or more teams, then these teams will be ranked according to their respective goal difference (which means ‘goals for’ minus ‘goals against’). A positive goal difference always takes precedence over a negative one. Hockey World Cup 2023: Teams, schedule, fixtures, streaming - All you need to know c) If there still remains equality among two or more teams, then these teams will be ranked according to their respective number of ‘goals for’. d) Should there still remain equality among the two teams, then the result of the match played between those teams will determine the ranking of the tied teams. e) If more than two teams are involved, then a ranking based upon the results of the matches among (only) them shall determine their respective position, based upon the points awarded (three points to winner, one point each in the event of a draw, no points to the loser). If there remains equality, then the teams involved shall be ranked according to points (a), (b), (c), and (d) above. Who won last World Cup? Belgium won the World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium as they defeated the Netherlands in a thrilling shoot-out in the final.  The tournament, however, will see Australia return to the World Cup after missing out the last edition for the first time in a century. Who are the favourites for the title? Australia and Belgium, currently ranked world No 1 and 2 respectively, are the two strong favourites for the title. Where to watch the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023? The Star Sports Network will broadcast all the matches on TV in India. The live streaming of the games will be available on Disney+ Hotstar. Read all the Latest News****, Trending News****, Cricket News****, Bollywood News****, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook****, Twitter and Instagram****.