Hockey World Cup 2023 – India vs Spain LIVE: The 15th edition of the men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 starts today. The Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneshwar and the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela will be hosting the Hockey World Cup 2023 matches. Belgium will be entering the tournament as the defending champions. Australia, Netherlands, Germany and host India are also amongst the title challengers. As the tournament starts, let’s meet the Top 5 contenders to lift the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023: Follow Indian Hockey Team LIVE in FIH Hockey WC 2023 with InsideSports.IN.
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Top 5 contenders for the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023
Belgium
The defending champions have tough task in hand as they look to defend the crown. Van den Heuvel announced his 18-strong squad as they aim to bring the trophy back to brussels.
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Australia
World no 1 ranked team Australia will be overwhelming favorites to win the World Cup this year. In the 2018 edition, Australia had finished with bronze medal after losing to Netherlands in th penalty shootout. The three times champions hold the best winning and goal scoring record in the hockey World Cup.
Following the 2018 disappointment, Australia will look to bounce back with victory. The three time winners will be looking to equalise Pakistan for the joint most number of Men’s Hockey World Cup trophies.
India
It has been 47 years since India last tasted World Cup success in hockey. After failing to lift the trophy in 2018, the Harmanpreet Singh led team has another shot at glory. The Men in Blue under coach Graham Reid have had a few good outings recently at the international stage. India won bronze at Asia Cup and Tokyo Olympics.
They went onto win silver at Commonwealth Silver in Birmingham followed by third place finish in the Pro League. There will be no shortage of crowd support for the home team and riding on fans support, the Indian team will look to end the medal drought.
Germany
Germany will be amongst the strong contenders to win the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 in India. The Germans have named a relatively experienced squad in their bid for a third world title under head coach Eric Langner. The World No 4 team had previously won the tournament in 2002 and 2006.
In the 2018 edition, they lost the quarterfinal to the eventual champions Belgium and ended the tournament in fifth place. They will look to put the disappointment behind them from the last edition and provide fresh challenges.
Netherlands
The Dutch team suffered heartbreak in the last two editions of the Hockey World Cup. In the 2018 edition they went down to eventual champions Belgium in the penalty shootout . The team currently holds the record for most hockey World Cup final losses (4).
The three time winners would want to be fourth time lucky and go onto lift the title. If the German team goes onto win the title they will equalize Pakistan in terms of World Cups won (4).
Hockey World Cup 2023: Meet the Top 5 contenders to lift the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023, Harmanpreet Singh led India is also on the list: Check Details
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