EXPLAINER
Swimming pools, format, match schedule, timings, India vs Pakistan historical past and extra earlier than 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup.
One in all hockey’s fiercest rivalries will likely be renewed when India and Pakistan face-off within the upcoming 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup.
The South Asian neighbours, who share a history of conflict and partition, are in the identical group within the males’s version of the World Cup, which begins on Saturday.
Advisable Tales
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Al Jazeera tells you every part it is advisable to know earlier than India vs Pakistan:
The place is the 2026 World Cup hockey being performed?
The FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 will likely be collectively held in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, The Netherlands, from August 15 to 30.
Each the boys’s and girls’s editions will characteristic 16 groups every, divided into 4 swimming pools.
Germany are the defending males’s world champions from 2023, whereas the Netherlands are the ladies’s title holders from 2022.
That are the hockey World Cup swimming pools?
Males’s swimming pools
- Pool A: Argentina, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand
- Pool B: Belgium, France, Germany, Malaysia
- Pool C: Australia, Spain, Eire, South Africa
- Pool D: England, India, Pakistan, Wales
Girls’s swimming pools
- Pool A: Australia, Chile, Japan, Netherlands
- Pool B: Argentina, Germany, Scotland, United States
- Pool C: Belgium, Spain, Eire, New Zealand
- Pool D: China, England, India, South Africa
What’s the 2026 Hockey World Cup format?
This 12 months’s version incorporates a new format that removes the quarterfinal stage, changing it with a second part known as the “crossover swimming pools”.
After the opening spherical – known as the pool stage – the groups will once more be grouped into 4 new swimming pools – Swimming pools E, F, G and H – primarily based on their ending positions within the first spherical. Thus, they may play three extra matches.
- Pool E: 1st and 2nd place finishers from Swimming pools A and D
- Pool F: 1st and 2nd place finishers from Swimming pools B and C
- Pool G: third and 4th place finishers from Swimming pools A and D
- Pool H: third and 4th place finishers from Swimming pools B and C
The highest two groups from Swimming pools E and F advance straight to the semifinals, whereas the others play classification matches (Fifth-Sixteenth positions).
The motion ends with the bronze-medal match and the ultimate.
When will India play Pakistan within the Hockey World Cup?
India’s males’s hockey staff will face Pakistan in a Pool D match on August 19.
The match will likely be held at Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, The Netherlands, and begins at 15:00 native time (6:30pm in India and 6pm in Pakistan).
When did India final play Pakistan within the Hockey World Cup?
The upcoming contest is the primary time in 16 years that India and Pakistan meet within the Hockey World Cup.
They final met on the World Cup within the 2010 version, in India’s capital New Delhi, the place the hosts beat Pakistan 4-1 in a Pool match.
India vs Pakistan head-to-head at Hockey World Cups
India and Pakistan have met 5 occasions at a Hockey World Cup, with the Indians claiming three wins to Pakistan’s two.
The one Hockey World Cup last between them was performed in 1975, and resulted in a 2-1 win for India.
- India 4-1 Pakistan, New Delhi 2010
- Pakistan 3-2 India, London 1986
- India 2-1 Pakistan, Kuala Lumpur 1975
- India 1-0 Pakistan, Amsterdam 1973
- Pakistan 2-1 India, Barcelona 1971
What number of Hockey World Cups have India and Pakistan received?
Pakistan are probably the most profitable males’s staff within the Hockey World Cup, with 4 titles: 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994.
India have received simply as soon as, in 1975. Nevertheless, they maintain the report for many Olympic gold medals (8).
The place to look at the Hockey World Cup 2026?
- India: Star Sports activities, JioHotstar
- Pakistan: Tapmad
- Worldwide: Watch.Hockey
FIH Males’s Hockey World Cup 2026: Full schedule
(All occasions native, GMT+2)
August 15
13:00 – India vs Wales (Pool D)
14:30 – Germany vs Malaysia (Pool B)
19:00 – England vs Pakistan (Pool D)
21:00 – Belgium vs France (Pool B)
August 16
11:30 – Australia vs Eire (Pool C)
14:30 – Spain vs South Africa (Pool C)
16:00 – Netherlands vs New Zealand (Pool A)
19:00 – Argentina vs Japan (Pool A)
August 17
12:30 – Pakistan vs Wales (Pool D)
14:00 – France vs Malaysia (Pool B)
15:00 – India vs England (Pool D)
20:30 – Germany vs Belgium (Pool B)
August 18
09:30 – New Zealand vs Japan (Pool A)
14:00 – Spain vs Australia (Pool C)
17:00 – Eire vs South Africa (Pool C)
18:00 – Argentina vs Netherlands (Pool A)
August 19
12:30 – England vs Wales (Pool D)
15:00 – Pakistan vs India (Pool D)
17:00 – France vs Germany (Pool B)
20:30 – Belgium vs Malaysia (Pool B)
August 20
11:00 – Australia vs South Africa (Pool C)
12:30 – New Zealand vs Argentina (Pool A)
17:00 – Eire vs Spain (Pool C)
18:00 – Netherlands vs Japan (Pool A)
August 21
11:00 – third Pool B vs 4th Pool C (Pool H)
14:00 – third Pool C vs 4th Pool B (Pool H)
17:00 – 1st Pool C vs 2nd Pool B (Pool F)
20:30 – 1st Pool B vs 2nd Pool C (Pool F)
August 22
10:00 – third Pool A vs 4th Pool D (Pool G)
13:00 – third Pool D vs 4th Pool A (Pool G)
16:00 – 1st Pool A vs 2nd Pool D (Pool E)
19:00 – 1st Pool D vs 2nd Pool A (Pool E)
August 23
11:30 – 4th Pool B vs 4th Pool C (Pool H)
14:30 – third Pool B vs third Pool C (Pool H)
17:30 – 1st Pool B vs 1st Pool C (Pool F)
20:30 – 2nd Pool B vs 2nd Pool C (Pool F)
August 24
09:30 – 4th Pool A vs 4th Pool D (Pool G)
12:30 – third Pool A vs third Pool D (Pool G)
14:45 – 2nd Pool A vs 2nd Pool D (Pool E)
18:00 – 1st Pool A vs 1st Pool D (Pool E)
August 28
09:30 – third Pool G vs third Pool H (thirteenth/14th place)
11:00 – 4th Pool G vs 4th Pool H (fifteenth/Sixteenth place)
12:30 – 2nd Pool G vs 2nd Pool H (eleventh/twelfth place)
14:00 – 1st Pool G vs 1st Pool H (ninth/tenth place)
15:00 – third Pool E vs third Pool F (Fifth/sixth place)
17:00 – 4th Pool E vs 4th Pool F (seventh/eighth place)
18:00 – 1st Pool E vs 2nd Pool F (Semifinal)
20:30 – 1st Pool F vs 2nd Pool E (Semifinal)
August 30
14:00 – Loser Semifinal 1 vs Loser Semifinal 2 (Bronze medal)
16:30 – Winner Semifinal 1 vs Winner Semifinal 2 (Ultimate)
