England & Wales Bid For FIH World Cup
England Hockey and Hockey Wales have confirmed that they have partnered to submit a bid to host the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup 2026.
The event involves sixteen teams, and if the bid is successful, it would be the first Hockey Men’s World Cup staged in the UK since 1986. The Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup took place in London in 2018 and at the time was the biggest standalone women’s sporting event the country had ever seen.
However, England and Wales face competition to host the tournament. Other countries that have submitted proposals for the tournament are Germany, South Africa, Holland, and Belgium.
The hosts of the 2026 World Cup will be decided by the FIH Executive Board on 3rd November 2022 and announced at the FIH Congress which will be held virtually on 4th to 5th November 2022.
The next FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup will be played in July 2022 in Spain and the Netherlands, whilst the next FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup will take place in January 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, India. Both competitions will showcase the best hockey nations in the world, with England qualifying for both competitions, and Wales competing in the men’s competition for the first time.
England Hockey commented in a statement “We look forward to working with both the FIH and our partners and sharing more information on the bid itself in the coming weeks.”
