Top five nations missing from Men's Hockey World Cup 2023

Pakistan, the four-time winner of the quadrennial mega event, has not qualified for the tournament.

As India prepares to host 16 elite hockey-playing nations to participate in the FIH Men's World Cup 2023, there is still a buzz about the many missing teams. Though many of the top-tier teams are performing this year yet many decent teams will not be present. Undoubtedly that will be somewhat of a loss for the fans.

Apparently, this was the year when the World Cup was supposed to extend to 24 teams. However, that will not be happening in the upcoming event. Hence the Kalinga Stadium and Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium will see the same number of teams as they did in the previous edition.

Some of these teams have a lot of promise. While others have a legacy behind them. Some others can easily claim to be emerging powerhouses in hockey. So today we are going to talk about these teams who we'll miss seeing live in action all throughout the event.

We take a look at the list of top nations missing from the Men's Hockey World Cup 2023:

5. Poland

Not many would talk about Poland but they did play in the World Cups in the late 90s and early 2000s. They finished 12th in 1998 and 15th in 2002. From then on the Polish team has had a lull in their performance. Since then Poland has failed to qualify for the World Cups. Unlike their border neighbours, Germany and Poland's exploits at the big stages have kind of fallen short of expectations.

Despite that Poland has put up decent performances in the European circuit. Especially if you look into their timeline from 1975-86. Their performance in the 1956 Summer Olympics is also worth a mention here. The Poles finished fifth in that campaign over countries like France, Austria, Italy, and Belgium among others. So current Polish manager Robert Grzeszczak will have to sort things out immediately if he hopes to get back on the right track.

4. Ireland

Ireland finished in the 14th spot last year above Malaysia and South Africa. Surprisingly enough both those teams will be playing in the upcoming World Cup but unfortunately, Ireland won't be there. The team that gave us glittering performances from 2010-2017 are going through a current rough patch.

Ireland has performed quite well in the second tiers of the game. However, when it came to rolling with the big boys the Green Machines had their troubles. Take their last World Cup for instance where they finished 14th. Ireland made a comeback in the tournament after 27 years. Their last World Cup was in 1990 in Lahore, Pakistan. Ireland crashed out at the group stage. Even then their performance was competitive.

They lost to Australia (1-2), lost to England (4-2) and drew with China (1-1). So they just need that little bit of "Irish luck" on their side to take it all the way next time around.

3. China

China's best result at the World Cup came in the last edition in Bhubaneshwar. China was pitted in a group with the likes of England, Ireland and Australia. Though they did not win a match in the group stage yet they managed to qualify. Courtesy of Ireland's dismal performance.

They finished third and made their way into the knockout stages. Surprisingly so as many would have ruled them out at this point. More so after their embarrassing loss at the hands of Australia (11-0). Unfortunately, that joy was short-lived as France put a halt to their journey. The French beat China (1-0) and sent them packing.

Even so, it still stands as one of their more prominent successes on the international stage. As the rest of their accolades have come in the Asian circuit.

2. Canada

Canada has kept on making sporadic appearances at the World Cup. They have always failed to maintain the consistency expected from them. Though have tasted great success at the Pan American Games. A tournament where they hold all three medal colours. However, success at the grand World Cup has always eluded them.

In the 2018 edition, they managed to draw just one game losing the other two to India and Belgium respectively. In spite of that, they managed to proceed to the knockouts. The Canadians squared off against the powerful Dutch and had a bitter end in the tournament. They lost that game 5-0. Prior to this they played in 2010 and finished second last above Pakistan.

1. Pakistan

Finally, we come down to one of the nations missing from the Men's Hockey World Cup is a big blow for all hockey lovers. A team that started it all in the hockey World Cup. A team whose match against hosts India is always the most viewed. This team is also a four-time World Cup winner. The highest of them all. However, as luck would have it they are missing out this year.

This is the second time Pakistan has failed to qualify for the World Cup. The last time was also quite recent in 2014. Pakistan's hockey has been going through a void it seems since 2010 at the World Cup as nothing seems to go their way. Out of the four World Cups since then the Green Shirts have either failed to qualify or have finished at the bottom of the points table. Something very uncommon for a team that hardly finishes below the top fives.

Pakistan is one of the Asian pioneers of hockey along with India and it is imperative they do something drastic to come out of this predicament. The current breed of players needs to bring out a resurgence that will match that of their predecessors like Sohail Abbas, Shahbaaz Ahmed or Tahir Zaman. Only then will it be able to reestablish itself as the hockey giant they once were.