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The FIH Hockey World Cup is set to take center stage later this year according to the recently released fixtures by the FIH. A total of 16 teams, including hosts India will participate in the competition which is to be held across late November and early December. The tournament's qualifiers witnessed some high voltage action exhibited by the teams with an urge to seal a spot in the main draw of the World Cup which will take place from November 28 - December 15, 2018, in Bhubaneswar, India.
Come December, the Kalinga Stadium in Odisha will be buzzing with energy as the teams will lock horns for their group stage matches. The 16 teams have been divided into four pools, namely A, B, C and D with four teams set to play three group stage games ahead of the knockouts from December 9, 2018.
Defending champions Australia will look to retain their title and are pooled with England, Ireland and China in Pool B while India will face off against Canada, South Africa, and Belgium in Pool C.
Pool A will play host to some riveting clashes with Argentina and New Zealand set to dominate proceedings while Spain and France will have to bring their A-game to beat the aforementioned teams. In Pool D, the clash between Germany and Pakistan will be highly anticipated with Netherlands and Malaysia also looking to make a mark early on in the tournament.
If one was to go by the qualifiers held in the previous year, the World Cup will certainly play host to some exciting clashes with teams looking to add another silverware to their trophy cabinet. Here is the fixture list in full.
28th November
5 PM - Belgium vs Canada
7 PM - India vs South Africa
29th November
5 PM - Argentina vs Spain
7 PM - New Zealand vs France
30th November
5 PM - Australia vs Ireland
7 PM - England vs China
1st December
5 PM - Netherlands vs Malaysia
7 PM - Germany vs Pakistan
2nd December
5 PM - Canada vs South Africa
7 PM - India vs Belgium
3rd December
5 PM - Spain vs France
7 PM - New Zealand vs Argentina
4th December
5 PM - England vs Australia
7 PM - Ireland vs China
5th December
5 PM - Germany vs Netherlands
7 PM - Malaysia vs Pakistan
6th December
5 PM - Spain vs New Zealand
7 PM - Argentina vs France
7th December
5 PM - Australia vs China
7 PM - Ireland vs England
8th December
5 PM - Belgium vs South Africa
7 PM - Canada vs India
9th December
5 PM - Malaysia vs Germany
7 PM - Netherlands vs Pakistan
10th December
Crossover matches
11th December
Crossover matches
12th December
Quarterfinals 1 & 2
13th December
Quarterfinals 3 & 4
14th December
Semifinals 1 & 2
15th December
3rd/4th place clash & Finals
