The FIH Men’s World Cup 2023 will kick off on January 13, Friday and the teams are getting their mindsets right ahead of the much-anticipated tournament. The Indian (IND) team will enter the field amid huge expectations, given the multinational tournament is taking place in their own backyard for the second consecutive time.
To add more, 16 teams will take part in the showpiece event, each split across 4 groups, with each consisting of 4 countries. With 44 matches set to be played in the contest overall, it will be a great spectacle for the fans, as they would get to witness the greats from multiple countries take on each other to clinch the title.
India’s schedule, squad, and groups:
The Harmanpreet Singh-led team will take on Spain in the first-ever game of the showpiece tournament in the newly-built Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela on Friday. They will then move on to play against England at the same venue on Sunday, before moving on to the Kalinga Stadium to play against Wales on January 19.
The summit clash, after two weeks of continuous action, will be hosted by the Kalinga Stadium, once again. The Bharat Army would be hoping to create history at home after failing to make it count in the previous edition played way back in 2018.
FIH Men’s World Cup 2023 groups:
Pool A:
Australia, South Africa, France, Argentina
Pool B:
Belgium, Japan, Korea, Germany
Pool C:
Netherlands, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand
Pool D:
India, Wales, Spain, England
FIH Men’s World Cup 2023, India – Pool D full schedule:
All times are in Indian Standard Times (IST)
January 13, Friday: India vs Spain – 7:00 PM IST
January 15, Sunday: India vs England – 7:00 PM IST
January 19, Thursday: India vs Wales – 7:00 PM IST
India’s squad for the FIH Men’s World Cup 2023:
Goalkeepers:
Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh
Defenders:
Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas (vice-captain), Nilam Sanjeep Xess
Midfielders:
Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh
Forwards:
Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh
Alternate players: Rajkumar Pal, Jugraj Singh
