FIH World Cup 2026 Schedule: India full list of fixtures, dates, match timings

FIH on Wednesday announced the schedule for the upcoming World Cup, set to be played in Belgium and the Netherlands from August 15 to 30.

The Indian men’s team will begin its campaign on August 15 against Wales in Amstelveen. It will then face England on August 17 before concluding its group-stage journey against Pakistan on August 19.

All three matches will be played at the Wagener Stadium.

The Indian women’s team will also play its three games at the same venue, starting with China on August 16. Its next two games will be against South Africa and England on August 18 and 20, respectively.

Format explained

Both men’s and women’s tournaments will begin with a group stage, which will feature 16 teams divided into pools of four each (pools A, B, C, and D).

The top two from each group advance to second round while the bottom two go to the classification groups.

The top two teams from pools A and D will move to pool E in the second round. Similarly, top two teams from pools B and C will form pool F. The bottom two from each group will form pools G and H and will be out of medal contention.

The teams will carry forward the results from the group stage to the second round. Hence, each team will play just two games in the second round.

The top two from pools E and F after this will advance to the semifinals. The third-placed teams in pools E and F will face each other for the fifth place and the four-placed teams in pools E and F will play for the seventh place.

Similarly, in pools G and H, will end up competing for ninth to 16th places.

Published on Mar 18, 2026