India will take on Spain in their opening encounter of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 in Rourkela, Odisha. The Indian team will be led by young Harmanpreet Singh and the Indian team boasts of other big names such as Manpreet Singh, under whom India clinched the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and PR Sreejesh, the experienced goalkeeper who is playing in his last World Cup. Not to forget, Team India has not won a World Cup in hockey for 48 years now. The last time India won a hockey World Cup was in 1975 when Ajitpal Singh-led side won the tournament.Â
There are 16 teams taking part in this World Cup. Men in Blue are placed in Group D with Spain, Wales and England. In Group A, Australia, South Africa, France and Argentina will play each other while in Group B, Belgium, Japan, Korea and Germany are placed together. In Group C, we will see Netherlands, Chile, Malaysia and New Zealand take on each other.
The four winners of the pool stage will qualify for the quarter-finals wile the teams finishing secod and third will play crossover matches for the remaining four spots in the last eight.
