FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023: Argentina-South Africa to open the show on January 13!

Khel Today Bureau

Lausanne, Switzerland: 2016 Olympic Gold medallists Argentina and Africa’s highest-ranked nation South Africa will open the 2023 FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup! 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 world’s number one Australia taking on France, in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup quarter-final.

Later on the same day, the brand-new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela will host its first-ever FIH World Cup matches, starting with a “derby” between England and Wales, followed by the local heroes of India playing in front of their home fans against Spain.

All teams will play in both venues.

In total, 44 matches will be played, with the Final scheduled on 29 January (7pm local time) in Bhubaneswar.

The full match schedule is available here.

The ticket sales for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela will start shortly. However, all fans are encouraged to pre-register their interest by filling the following form: https://fih.formstack.com/forms/world_cup_tickets_pre_registration

The draw held on 8 September in Bhubaneswar determined the four Pools as follows:
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

Chile and Wales have qualified for the Men’s World Cup for the very first time.

Belgium are the current World Champions, having defeated the Netherlands in the Final of the 2018 edition.