New Delhi: The Indian men's hockey team has created history as soon as it entered the field on Saturday, 15th August. India did something which no other team in the world could do. India will try to win the title by performing strongly in this tournament. The FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2026 is being organized at the Wagner Stadium in the beautiful city of Amstelveen, Netherlands. By facing Wales in its first match, India has become the first team in the world to have played all 16 tournaments of the Hockey World Cup.
Apart from India, Spain, Netherlands and Germany have also played all the 15 World Cups before and these teams are part of the tournament this time too. But India's match was scheduled before these teams, so as soon as the Indian team took the field under the captaincy of captain Harmanpreet Singh, the title of playing the first 16th World Cup was given to India.
The first World Cup was played in 1971
The Indian men's hockey team has had a strong journey in the World Cup. In the first World Cup played in Barcelona in 1971, India performed brilliantly and won the bronze medal by finishing third. After this, the dominance of the Indian team continued in the next tournament held in Netherlands in 1973, where the team remained the runner-up.
India won the title by defeating Pakistan
The golden moment in the history of Indian hockey came in 1975, when India won the first and only World Cup title by defeating its arch-rival Pakistan 2-1 in a thrilling match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. However, the team's performance in recent years has been up and down. In the last World Cup of 2023, hosted by Odisha in India, the Indian team had to be content with 9th place.
Responsibility on the shoulders of Captain Harmanpreet
This time Team India has taken the field under the leadership of star defender Harmanpreet Singh. The team includes experienced players like former captain Manpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas and Vivek Sagar Prasad, who have the power to make India world champion again.
India's schedule?
15 August (Saturday): First match against Wales.
17 August (Monday): Collision with England.
19 August (Wednesday): Big match with Pakistan.