Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 Updated Schedule: Day 5

Heavyweights Germany and Belgium will clash in Pool B.

The FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023, which kicked off on January 13, completed day 4 on Monday. Teams from Pool A and C were in action. In the Group C clash at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup, the Netherlands easily defeated New Zealand 4-0 on Monday at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in the city of Rourkela. For the Dutch, the seasoned Thierry Brinkman scored a brace and by defeating Chile 3-2, Malaysia kicked off Chile from the 15th edition of the Hockey World Cup.

Whereas in Group A, Blake Gover’s eleventh-hour goal helped Australia hold Argentina to a 3-3 draw. To maintain its chances of making the quarterfinals, France defeated South Africa 2-1 in the second Pool A game.

Day 5 preview

Day 5 will see a head-to-head clash between two top-tier teams, Belgium and Germany. The two finished in first and second position in the Tokyo Summer Olympics as well.

One of the top challengers for the FIH Men's World Cup 2023 are Germany. The nation has been a regular in the tournament since its inception. The two-time winners underperformed massively in the previous iteration of the tournament and they will be looking to make a statement in this one.

Whereas, in the past ten years, the hockey world has seen Belgium soar to new heights. The "Red lions" have rightfully cemented themselves as one of the teams to beat and would love to defend their title as the champions. The hockey World Cup has seen six visits by the No. 2 team in the world, with their best result to date being in the 2018 tournament. 

Both Belgium and Germany have displayed a very positive brand of hockey in their opening matches and have dominated their east-Asian opponents. In their previous four meetings in the World Cup, Belgium and Germany have won two each but in their last meeting in 2018, Belgium had come out victors.

FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 Schedule of Day 5, January 17

Group B: Korea 2-1 Japan, Kalinga Stadium, 17:00 IST

Group B: Belgium 2-2 Germany, Kalinga Stadium, 19:00 IST