All You Want to Know About the Men’s Hockey World Cup

The inaugural Men’s Hockey World Cup was held at Barcelona, Spain in 1971

India won the Men’s Hockey World Cup only once at Kuala Lumpur in 1975, pipping Pakistan 2-1 in the final

Soviet Union sprang a surprise at the 1986 London Men’s Hockey World Cup where they reached the semifinals after defeating Pakistan, England, New Zealand and Argentina in the pool stage

Argentina’s Juan Vivaldi and Malaysia’s Kumar Subramanium are the oldest players to have featured in the Men’s Hockey World Cup – both played the 2018 World Cup at the age of 39

Harcharan Singh scored India’s golden goal in extra time in their 3-2 win over Malaysia in the semifinal of the 1975 Men’s Hockey World Cup at Kuala Lumpur

Australia were forced to withdraw from the 1973 World Cup owing to lack of funds

Tanvir Dar of Pakistan was the top goal-scorer (8 Goals) at the inaugural 1971 Men’s Hockey World Cup at Barcelona

Rajinder Singh is the only Indian to be the top goal-scorer (12 Goals) at the 1982 Bombay Men’s Hockey World Cup

Only six nations have won the Men’s Hockey World Cup across 14 editions – Pakistan, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, India and Belgium

Most Individual Goals Scored in any Men’s Hockey World Cup – Paul Litjens 15 Goals at the 1978 edition

Ashok Kumar scored India’s match-winner against Pakistan in the final of the 1975 Men’s Hockey World Cup at Kuala Lumpur

Pakistan won the inaugural 1971 Men’s Hockey World Cup beating Spain by a solitary goal in the final riding on an extra time goal by Akhtar Rasool after goalless regulation time

Australia Beating Netherlands 6-1 at The Hague in 2014 is the biggest victory margin in any final of the Men’s Hockey World Cup

Only three nations have won the Men’s Hockey World Cup back-to-back – Pakistan (1978, 1982), Germany (2002, 2006), & Australia (2010, 2014)

India and Pakistan did not face each other in Men’s Hockey World Cups since 1986 until 2010 edition

The inaugural 1971 Men’s Hockey World Cup was slated to be in Pakistan but had to be shifted out owing to political reasons to Barcelona (Spain)

India and Pakistan have never been pitted in the same pool in the first 11 editions of the Men’s Hockey World Cup (1971, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006) – at the 2010 edition both teams were placed in Pool A for the only time ever

England twice came from behind to beat West Germany 3-2 in extra time in the semifinal of the 1986 London Men’s Hockey World Cup – Paul Barber scored a late equaliser before going to score an extra time goal to take the hosts in the final against Australia

India and the Netherlands have hosted the Men’s Hockey World Cup maximum times – 3 times – India (1982, 2010 & 2018) – Netherlands (1973, 1998 & 2014)

The 1975 Men’s Hockey World Cup had three joint top goal-scorers – Ties Kruiz (Netherlands), Manzoor-ul-Hassan (Pakistan) and Stefan Otulakowski (Poland) – 7 Goals each

Pakistan’s Tanvir Dar slammed two hat-tricks against Australia and the Netherlands at the inaugural 1971 Men’s Hockey World Cup at Barcelona

Netherlands have been runners-up at the Men’s Hockey World Cup on most occasions – 4 times (1978, 1994, 2014, 2018)

India were shocked 0-1 by Poland in the opening tie of the 1986 London Men’s Hockey World Cup – Andrzej Myśliwiec scored for the Poles

Australia have won the bronze medal at the Men’s Hockey World Cup on most occasions – 5 times (1978, 1982, 1990, 1994, 2018)

Pakistan won the Men’s Hockey World Cup on most occasions – 4 times (1971, 1978, 1982 & 1994)

The first edition of the Hockey World Cup was held at the Real Polo Club in Barcelona in 1971. It was also the venue for Equestrian event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics

Paul Litjens holds the record for scoring most goals in Men’s Hockey World Cup across editions – 26 Goals

Canada has shocked India twice at the Men’s Hockey World Cup – India were shocked 1-3 and 1-4 in the 1978 and 1998 editions

Kuala Lumpur is the only city to host the Men’s Hockey World Cup twice (1975 & 2002)

India’s Satinder Kumar has officiated as an umpire in 3 consecutive Men’s Hockey World Cups (2002, 2006, 2010)

Netherlands is the only side to win the Men’s Hockey World Cup as a host nation twice (1973 & 1998)

France stunned Australia by a solitary goal in the 7-8th place classification tie of the inaugural 1971 Men’s Hockey World Cup at Barcelona to finish 7th ahead of Australia

Former Pakistan Cricket Board President & Pakistan Hockey Federation President Malik Nur Khan was responsible for conceiving the first-ever Hockey World Cup in 1971 – he was also responsible for creating the prestigious Hockey Champions Trophy in 1978

At the 1990 Lahore Men’s Hockey World Cup, France shocked India 2-1

Nations featuring in the Men’s Hockey World Cup only once – Ghana (1975), Italy (1978), Belarus (1994), Cuba (2002), China (2018)

Netherlands’ Ties Kruiz is the only player to be the top goal-scorer in Men’s Hockey World Cup twice (1973 & 1975)

At the 1978 Men’s Hockey World Cup at Buenos Aires, India rode on goals from Baldev Singh and Ashok Kumar to pip Australia 2-0

Pakistan forward Kamran Ashraf played a stellar role in Greenshirts’ 1994 World Cup glory at Sydney, scoring 8 goals

Argentina (1971 & 1982) & South Africa (2006 & 2018) have finished last in the Men’s Hockey World Cup twice

Australia’s 12-0 win over South Africa at New Delhi in 2010 is the biggest win in the Men’s Hockey World Cup

Poland shocked the Netherlands 2-1 at the 1975 Men’s Hockey World Cup at Kuala Lumpur

Hassan Sardar (Pakistan) scored 4 times in their 12-3 win over New Zealand at the 1982 Bombay Men’s Hockey World Cup

At the 1973 Men’s Hockey World Cup final at Amstelveen, India led the Netherlands 2-0 riding on a brace by Surjit Singh in the first eight minutes of play but the Dutch equalised with a brace from Ties Kruize to push the contest into extra time where Govinda missed a stroke and the match subsequently headed into a shootout where the Dutch had the last laugh

Netherlands (1973 & 1998) and Germany (2006) are only two nations to win the Men’s Hockey World Cup as a host nation

Players from the Netherlands have been top goal-scorers at Men’s Hockey World Cup on most occasions – 6 times – Ties Kruiz (1973, 1975), Paul Litjens (1978), Floris Jan Bovelander (1990), Taco van den Honert (1994), Taeke Taekema (2006)

Pakistan goalkeeper Mansoor Ahmed pulled off a crucial save of Jereon Delmee to help his side win the 1994 World Cup shootout against the Netherlands 4-3 after being tied 1-1 in normal time

Two Men’s Hockey World Cup saw most teams participating – 16 nations (2002, 2018)

Pakistan settled for the wooden spoon in the 2010 New Delhi Men’s Hockey World Cup

India have faced Pakistan 5 times in Men’s Hockey World Cup, winning thrice and losing twice

Team conceding most goals in any single Men’s Hockey World Cup – Cuba Goals in the 2002 edition

Rajinder Singh scored two hat-tricks vs Malaysia (6-2) & New Zealand (3-2) at the 1982 Bombay Men’s Hockey World Cup

Netherlands were trailing by two goals till the 55th minute of play in the final of the 1998 Utrecht Men’s Hockey World Cup against Spain – The Dutch struck two late goals to take the contest into extra time where Teun de Nooijer scored a golden goal to ensure they have the last laugh

West Germany and Argentina featured in the first game of the inaugural 1971 Men’s Hockey World Cup at Barcelona – Germans won 5-1

BP Govinda scored India’s match-winner against Pakistan in the semifinal of the 1973 Men’s Hockey World Cup