Amsterdam, March 18 (IANS) World No 8 India will meet archrivals Pakistan in a Pool D match at 6.30 pm IST on August 19 in the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 at the Wagener Hockey Stadium, Amstelveen.

India are clubbed together with neighbours and four-time World Cup winner Pakistan in Pool D, along with Wales and England in the four-team Pool from which the top-placed team will qualify for the quarterfinals, while the next two placed teams will figure in Cross-Over matches.

After a thrilling draw ceremony held at the Wagener Stadium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, where participating teams and athletes discovered their opponents for the group stage, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has now confirmed the match schedule for the World Cup.

The 1975 World Cup winner India will start their campaign in the 16-team men’s competition against Wales on August 15, the opening day of the FIH Hockey World Cup, at 4.30 pm IST, and will run into fourth-ranked England on August 17 at the Wagener Hockey Stadium, Amstelveen

England will play Pakistan in another key match of Pool D on August 15.

The first round matches will be held till August 20, and the knock-out stage matches will be played from August 21.

Meanwhile, the Indian women’s hockey team will start their campaign against World No.4 and Asian Champion China at the Wagner Stadium in Amsterdam on August 16.

They will run into South Africa, the only team ranked lower than them in World Rankings, on August 18 before winding off their first round proceedings with a clash with World No. 7 England, the team to which they lost in the World Cup Qualifiers in Hyderabad, India, on August 20.

The Men’s and Women’s Hockey World Cups, being jointly held for the first time by Belgium and the Netherlands, will start with Australia women meeting Japan Women in the tournament opener on August 15.

In all, six matches, three each in men’s and women’s sections, will be played at two venues — Wagner Stadium in Amstelveen and Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre, Belgium — on the opening day of the competitions, which will be held from August 15 to 30.

India, along with the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand, Japan, and South Africa have qualified in both men’s and women’s sections of the competition. The Indian men made it by winning the Asia Cup, while the women’s team made it by finishing second in the Qualifying tournament held in Hyderabad, Telangana.

–IANS

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