While there’s millions of fans and followers for the football and cricket world cups, let’s not forget about hockey as this sport originated centuries ago as well, and is currently played in several countries across the world too. And when we talk about international federations to help organise tournaments at the highest level, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has done a great job over the decades.
They merged with the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations (IFWHA) in 1983 and now, the governing body manages both international men’s and women’s hockey. In the men’s competition, they launched the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup for the first time in 1971, with the tournament to be held every four years, in between every Summer Olympics which is also 4 years between each event.
The first ever FIH Hockey World Cup took place in Spain and the home team narrowly lost in the final against Pakistan, the latter going down into history as the first team to win the men’s hockey world cup. That first edition of the hockey world cup had 10 participating teams and that slowly increased over the years and editions, with 16 countries participating in the latest edition – 2023 men’s hockey world cup.
Since then, there have been 14 completed editions of the men’s hockey world cup with the 2023 edition being the fifteenth time this tournament was hosted. We’ve put together a complete men’s FIH Hockey World Cup winners list from the first edition till date, last updated 22nd January 2023, during the 2023 Hockey World Cup. See the full list here:
Men’s Hockey World Cup winners list
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Scoreline | Venue |
| 1971 | Pakistan | Spain | 1-0 | Barcelona, Spain |
| 1973 | Netherlands | India | 2-2 (4-2) penalty strokes | Amstelveen, Netherlands |
| 1975 | India | Pakistan | 2-1 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| 1978 | Pakistan (2) | Netherlands | 3-2 | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| 1982 | Pakistan (3) | West Germany | 3-1 | Bombay, India |
| 1986 | Australia | England | 2-1 | London, England |
| 1990 | Netherlands (2) | Pakistan | 3-1 | Lahore, Pakistan |
| 1994 | Pakistan (4) | Netherlands | 1-1 (4-3) penalty strokes | Sydney, Australia |
| 1998 | Netherlands (3) | Spain | 3-2 after extra time | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| 2002 | Germany | Australia | 2-1 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| 2006 | Germany (2) | Australia | 4-3 | Mönchengladbach, Germany |
| 2010 | Australia (2) | Germany | 2-1 | New Delhi, India |
| 2014 | Australia (3) | Netherlands | 6-1 | The Hague, Netherlands |
| 2018 | Belgium | Netherlands | 0-0 (3-2) penalty shootout | Bhubaneswar, India |
| 2023 | TBD | TBD | TBD | Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, India |
| 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
After having won the first edition of the men’s Hockey World Cup, they went on to win four of the first eight editions as well and even though their last title came back in 1994, they’re still the most successful team in this tournament with four (4) titles under their belt. After them, Australia and Netherlands have won the tournament three times each.
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Germany has won the men’s hockey world cup twice while India and Belgium have won the tournament once each, which means only 6 countries have won this tournament over the years. In terms of consistency, Netherlands have made as many as seven (7) finals in the fourteen editions hosted so far, Pakistan being close behind them with 6 finals in the FIH Hockey World Cup.
From all the teams to have ever played the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup, only four of them have played all 15 editions till date, including India, Spain, Germany (including the time when they were West Germany), and the Netherlands. Wales and Chile were the two latest debutants in this tournament, participating for the first time in the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup.
For more updates on the men’s Hockey World Cup and other sporting stories from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com!
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