The Hockey World Cup 2018 is set to kick off on 27 November with the opening ceremony in the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The Hockey World Cup is scheduled to be held from 27 November till 16 December. Here’s the full schedule (fixtures), groups and match timings in IST. A total of 36 fixtures will be played over the course of the competition with Belgium playing the first match against Canada on 28 November. 16 teams have been divided into four groups, consisting of four teams each. The top team from each group will qualify for the knockout rounds after the group stage. Play-off matches between the second-placed and third-placed teams of each pool will see four more teams enter the quarter-finals. The last edition of the Hockey World Cup was held at the Kyocera Stadion in The Hague, Netherlands. Australia won the tournament after defeating the Netherlands in the final. It was Australia’s third World Cup title. Pakistan have won the most World Cup tournaments. Their four victories have come in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994. India only World Cup title came in 1975, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As hosts, India will be hoping to add to that tally, and have announced a young and energetic squad for the tournament, with coach Harendra Singh in charge. India are currently ranked fifth in the world, after a strong 2018 that saw them finish in second place at the Asian Games 2018 and the 2018 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy. See the full schedule with the times in IST here: Tuesday, 27 November, 2018 Hockey World Cup 2018 Opening Ceremony — 17.30 (PM) Wednesday, 28 November, 2018 Belgium VS Canada (Pool C) — 17.00 (PM) India VS South Africa (Pool C) — 19.00 (PM) Thursday, 29 November, 2018 Argentina VS Spain (Pool A) — 17.00 (PM) New Zealand VS France (Pool A) — 19.00 (PM) Friday, 30 November, 2018 Australia VS Ireland (Pool B) — 17.00 (PM) England VS China (Pool B) — 19.00 (PM) Saturday, 1 December, 2018 Netherlands VS Malaysia (Pool D) — 17.00 (PM) Germany VS Pakistan (Pool D) — 19.00 (PM) Sunday, 2 December, 2018 Canada VS South Africa (Pool B) — 17.00 (PM) India VS Belgium (Pool B) — 19.00 (PM) Monday, 3 December, 2018 Spain VS France (Pool A) — 17.00 (PM) New Zealand VS Argentina (Pool A) — 19.00 (PM) Tuesday, 4 December, 2018 England VS Australia (Pool C) — 17.00 (PM) Ireland VS China (Pool C) — 19.00 (PM) Wednesday, 5 December, 2018 Germany VS Netherlands (Pool D) — 17.00 (PM) Malaysia VS Pakistan (Pool D) — 19.00 (PM) Thursday, 6 December, 2018 Spain VS New Zealand (Pool A) — 17.00 (PM) Argentina VS France (Pool A) — 19.00 (PM) Friday, 7 December, 2018 Australia VS China (Pool B) — 17.00 (PM) Ireland VS England (Pool B) — 19.00 (PM) Saturday, 8 December, 2018 Belgium VS South Africa (Pool C) — 17.00 (PM) Canada VS India (Pool C) — 19.00 (PM) Sunday, 9 December, 2018 Malaysia VS Germany (Pool D) — 17.00 (PM) Netherlands VS Pakistan (Pool D) — 19.00 (PM) Cross-Over: Monday, 10 December, 2018 2nd Pool A VS 3rd Pool B (Match 25) — 16.45 (PM) 2nd Pool B VS 3rd Pool A (Match 26) — 19.00 (PM) Tuesday, 11 December, 2018 2nd Pool C VS 3rd Pool B (Match 27) — 16.45 (PM) 2nd Pool B VS 3rd Pool A (Match 28) — 19.00 (PM) [caption id=“attachment_5620371” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]
Members of the India’s team celebrate a goal against Pakistan during the men’s field hockey bronze medal match between India and Pakistan at the 2018 Asian Games. AFP[/caption] Quarter-finals: Wednesday, 12 December, 2018 1st Pool A VS Winner 26 (Match 29) — 16.45 (PM) 1st Pool B VS Winner 25 (Match 30) — 19.00 (PM) Thursday, 13 December, 2018 1st Pool C VS Winner 28 (Match 31) — 16.45 (PM) 1st Pool D VS Winner 27 (Match 32) — 19.00 (PM) Semi-finals: Saturday, 15 December, 2018 Winner 29 VS Winner 32 (Match 33) — 16.30 (PM) 18:30 PM Winner 30 VS Winner 31 (Match 34) — 18.30 (PM) Final: Sunday, 16 December, 2018 Bronze Medal match Loser 33 VS Loser 34 — 16.30 (PM) Gold Medal Match Winner 33 VS Winner 34 — 19.00 (PM)
)