Hockey World Cup: India handed difficult draw, positioned alongside aspect England, Spain and Wales in Pool D

India have been handed a tough draw for the Hockey World Cup to be held in Odisha in January 2023, after they have been positioned alongside three European groups – England, Spain and Wales – in Pool D.

At world quantity 5, India are the highest-ranked staff within the group however securing a direct berth for the quarterfinals received’t be simple for the hosts. In England (rank 6), they may face an opponent towards whom they’ve a combined report. Matches between India and England have typically been high-scoring, with England having an edge in main occasions.

Spain (rank 8) have all the time been a tough staff to play towards and have develop into stronger underneath former Netherlands coach Max Caldas and whereas Wales (rank 16) might sound weakest among the many 4 groups, they’ve proven a capability to punch above their weight in European competitions.

The DRAW is about in stone, and we can have England, Spain, and Wales as our companion in Pool D for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela.

Share your ideas on the draw. 👇 pic.twitter.com/lijw7zVhmq

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) September 8, 2022

The group winners will advance on to the quarterfinals whereas the groups positioned second and third should play crossover matches to find out their destiny.

On paper, Pool D is the hardest pool with three evenly-matched groups preventing for the highest spot for direct place within the last-8. Pool A contains Australia, Argentina, France and South Africa. In Pool B, Belgium and Germany will battle it out for the highest spot together with South Korea and Japan whereas the Netherlands, Chile, Malaysia and New Zealand type Pool C.

The 16-team occasion will likely be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29. This is the second consecutive World Cup to be held in India – and fourth total.