The FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026 will begin in one month and take place from 15 to 30 August in Wavre, Belgium, and Amstelveen, the Netherlands. The competition will bring together 16 men’s and 16 women’s national teams, which qualified through continental championships and World Cup qualifiers organised by the International Hockey Federation -FIH-. “The FIH Hockey World Cup is the most prestigious of our events—it is where legends are made and where the standard of global hockey reaches new heights,” said FIH president Tayyab Ikram.
It will be the third time that the men’s and women’s World Cups have been held simultaneously at the same venues, following Utrecht in 1998 and The Hague in 2014. The FIH presents this joint structure as part of its gender equality policy, with both tournaments sharing a schedule, venues and services. Germany will defend the men’s title won in 2023, while the Dutch national team will attempt to retain the women’s crown secured in 2022.
Hockey World Cup introduces a second group stage
The tournament will introduce a format that replaces the previous knockout play-offs before the quarter-finals. The national teams will initially be divided into four groups of four, with the top two in each progressing to a second group stage. The qualifiers from groups A and D will form group E, while those advancing from groups B and C will move into group F. Each team will carry forward its result against the other qualifier from its original group and play two matches against the teams arriving from the other section.
The top two teams in groups E and F will reach the semi-finals, while the remaining participants will play classification matches to determine every position from fifth to sixteenth. The men’s groups include Argentina, New Zealand, Japan, France, Malaysia, Australia, Spain, Ireland, South Africa, India, England, Pakistan and Wales, alongside the hosts and defending champions. The women’s draw also features Chile, China, the United States and Scotland.
Wavre and Amstelveen prepare two 10,000-capacity stadiums
The Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre will be one of the competition’s main legacies. Belgium’s new national hockey stadium has 4,000 permanent seats and will use temporary stands to increase its capacity to approximately 10,000 during the World Cup. Belfius has acquired the venue’s naming rights for the next five years. Belgium will host a Hockey World Cup for the first time, as well as the first world championship in a team sport to be staged in the country’s French-speaking region. “Together, Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation have invested more than six million euros in this World Cup, both for the Wavre stadium and for the organization of the event,” explained Jacqueline Galant, Minister of Sports and Sports Infrastructure for both administrations.
The Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, one of the historic venues of Dutch hockey, will also temporarily increase its capacity to 10,000 spectators. Approximately half of the matches will be played in each country, with both venues providing fan zones, food and drink areas, shops, performances and hockey-related activities. The programme in Amstelveen will also include Hockey5s matches alongside the main competition.
First Para Hockey World Cup joins the programme
From 20 to 24 August, the FIH will stage the first FIH Para Hockey World Cup for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Sixteen mixed-gender national teams will compete in a six-a-side format. The opening stage will be divided between Louvain-la-Neuve Hockey Club in Belgium and HC Myra in Amstelveen, before the final day moves to the Belfius Hockey Arena and the Wagener Stadium, the same venues used for the senior World Cups.
Para Hockey began developing as a specific discipline 14 years ago, and more than 30 national associations have informed the FIH that they operate their own programmes. In 2023, it featured as a demonstration sport at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, with 12 countries taking part. The international federation intends the creation of the World Cup to support its recognition as an official sport at the Special Olympics World Games in Santiago in 2027.
Two host federations under the ‘Together for Glory’ slogan
The FIH is organising the tournament alongside the Royal Belgian Hockey Association, the Royal Dutch Hockey Federation and event operator Golazo. The project began with the joint bid submitted in 2022 and has required the two countries to coordinate schedules, venues, broadcast production, ticket sales and accompanying activities. The slogan ‘Together for Glory’ refers to this shared organisation and the simultaneous staging of the men’s and women’s competitions. Squads are being announced during these weeks, while international distribution will combine agreements with national broadcasters and the Watch.Hockey platform.
Belgium’s national teams will play the first stage in Wavre, while the Dutch sides will be based in Amstelveen. Each stadium will host one men’s and one women’s semi-final, keeping both countries involved in the two competitions during the decisive stage. The women’s final will take place at the Wagener Stadium on 29 August, followed by the men’s final at the Belfius Hockey Arena on 30 August.
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