Five nations with most matches played in Men's Hockey World Cup

Rourkela will be hosting the quadrennial mega event for the first time in history.

The FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 is the premium tournament when it comes to field hockey. The first edition of the World Cup was played back in 1971. Since then there have been 14 editions of the Hockey World Cup. These 14 different editions have seen six different nations lifting the coveted trophy. The long and glorious history of this prestigious tournament has seen 26 different teams compete for the World Cup.

With the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup just around the corner, here is a look at the top five countries that played the most matches in the tournament:

5. Australia - 98 matches

Australia is one of the most successful countries when it comes to its record in the FIH Hockey World Cup. The Kookaburras have won the most number of matches in the history of the World Cup, having won 69 of their 92 matches. They also have the highest win rate among all the countries, winning 75% of their matches in the World Cup. Australia are also the No. 1 ranked team in the world at the moment. The current leaders have been World champions thrice before, having lifted the Cup in 1986, 2010 and 2014.

4. England - 98 matches

Despite having never lifted the trophy before, England has been a part of the Hockey World Cup barring the inaugural edition. Currently ranked fifth in the world, the English have played 94 matches in the Hockey World Cup. Out of these 94 matches they have managed to win 44 matches with a win rate of 46.81%. England’s best finish in the World Cup came in 1986 when they hosted the tournament. They finished as runners-up in that edition losing 2-1 to Australia in the finals.

3. Spain - 99 matches

Spain has competed in every edition of the Hockey World Cup since it first started in 1971. However, they too like England have failed to get their hands on the coveted trophy.  The ‘Redsticks’ have played a total of 94 matches in the World Cup and have won 44 matches. Their numbers are the same as that of England but Spain finds themselves higher on this list as they have scored one goal more than England in the World Cup. The Spanish team are currently ranked 8th in the world. Spain’s best finish in the Hockey World Cup came back in 1998 when they finished runners-up to the Netherlands.

2. India - 101 matches

India is one of the most successful countries in the world when it comes to Olympic success but the same hasn’t been reciprocated in the World Cup. The hosts of the 2023 edition also have been a part of the Hockey World Cup since its inaugural edition. In that time the Men in Blue have played a total of 95 matches in the World Cup and have won 40 of them with a win percentage of 42%. India has won the World Cup once before, back in 1975 when they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. The Indian team is currently ranked sixth in the world.

1. Netherlands - 106 matches

And the country with the most number of matches played in the history of the World Cup is the Netherlands. The Dutch have played 100 matches in the World Cup and won 61 of them. The Netherlands has been one of the most dominating teams in Hockey World Cup history and their win rate of 61% is second only to Australia. Currently ranked third in the World, the Oranje have lifted the World Cup thrice before in their history. Their successes came in 1973, 1990 and 1998. The Dutch finished in the third spot at the 2018 Hockey World Cup.