Pakistan will not participate in the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 as a result of its failure to place among the top four teams in the Asia Cup.
The 16-team tournament, which begins in Indian towns Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in nine days, will feature the top four hockey-playing countries in Asia: India, Japan, Malaysia, and Korea.
The Hockey World Cup now features sixteen nations in competition, up from the previous limit of just 12.
The four-yearly action is, however, being missed by Pakistan, the four-time world champions and 17th-ranked team in the globe.
The FIH Men’s World Cup will be hosted by the same country twice for the first time because the 2018 edition was also held in India. Following the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup in 2018 India also hosted the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup in 2021 and the FIH Hockey Pro League during the previous four years.
Matches will be played in both Bhubaneswar and Rourkela on the first day of the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.
Argentina, who won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, will play South Africa, the current African champions and winners of the most recent FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup, in the opening game on January 13 at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar.
