On the eve of the start of the 48th FIH Congress, the Executive Board of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Thursday selected Belgium and the Netherlands to jointly host the 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s and Men’s. World cup together.
The joint event will take place in July or August 2026 in Amsterdam/Amstelveen, Netherlands and Vavre, Belgium, with both women’s and men’s teams playing at both the venues, the FIH informed in a release on Thursday.
The proposed format for the match schedule – with a local team, Belgium or the Netherlands, playing every day to ensure places are filled every day, influenced EB’s decision.
Commenting on the decision, FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “On behalf of FIH, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the national associations that submitted bids. We have received excellent proposals and, therefore, making this decision is a must.” The task was particularly challenging. We look forward to working with the current Women’s and Men’s World and Olympic Champions, the national associations of the Netherlands and Belgium respectively, to put together an undoubtedly outstanding World Cup!”
EB also approved the 2023 budget. The expected FIH financial result is an operating profit of 1m CHF (including 150k profit from the FIH Hockey Pro League), largely thanks to the upcoming FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup in India.
The EB, chaired by African Hockey Federation (AFHF) President Seif Ahmed, also confirmed that the winners of the FIH Hockey Pro League in Season 5 (2023/2024) and Season 6 (2024/2025) will qualify directly for 2026. FIH Men’s and Women’s World Cup. If the winner of Season 6 has already qualified in Season 5, the runner-up in Season 6 will be offered a direct qualification spot.
The 48th FIH Congress will take place virtually on 4 and 5 November.
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