The 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup will be played in a new format, built for nonstop action! For each gender, there will be 16 teams, 3 stages, and 1 ultimate champion.
The competition starts with the Pool Stage, where the countries are divided into four pools of four teams each. Each team plays three matches, one against each of the other teams in their pool. The top two teams in each pool progress to the Second Stage, while the bottom two teams in each pool move into the Classification Stage.
The top two teams from each Pool will advance to the second group stage. The winners and runners-up from Pool A and Pool D will form the new Pool E. The same goes for groups B and C, which will form the new Pool F. For the women, Pool E will be hosted in the Netherlands, while Pool F will play in Belgium.
In this Second Stage, each country plays two more matches, against the two countries in their new Pool. The result achieved against the country already played in the first group stage also counts toward the final ranking in the new Pool. The two best teams from the new Pool E and F advance to the semifinals. The third and fourth-placed teams will play placement matches for 5th to 8th place.
Both in Wavre and in Amsterdam, one semifinal for the men and one for the women will be played. This will naturally be followed by the finals. The women's final will take place in Amsterdam on Saturday, August 29, and the men's final will be played in Wavre on Sunday, August 30.
Similar to the Second Stage, teams that finished third and fourth in the Pool Stage will also form new groups after the first group stage: Pools G and H. For the women, Pool G will be hosted in the Netherlands, while Pool H will be played in Belgium. The countries from Pools G and H will compete for 9th to 16th place.
