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The official draw ceremony to determine the pools of the upcoming FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 will take place in Bhubaneshwar on September 8.
The draw ceremony will be streamed live on the watch.hockey app. The FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website will also give information about the draw ceremony as and when it happens.
The draw ceremony will commence at 12 noon IST at the Convention Center, Lok Sewa Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
The Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 will take place at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar and at the state-of-the-art Bisra Munda Stadium in Rourkela from January 13 to 29, 2023.
Sixteen teams will be a part of the World Cup, including hosts India. Malaysia, Japan and Korea are the other Asian teams at the marquee event. Africa are represented by South Africa, recent winners of the Africa Cup of Nations, while Belgium, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, and Wales have qualified from Europe.
Argentina and Chile are the two American teams, while Australia and New Zealand, from Oceania, complete the draw.
The Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 draw will be conducted by FIH CEO Thierry Weil, with the Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik, in attendance.
Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 draw procedure
The four top teams, including hosts India, Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, will be placed in the first row of their corresponding pools based on the FIH World Rankings as per June 1, 2022.
The draw will start with row 4 of each pool, involving the following teams: South Africa, Wales, Japan, and Chile.
It will then continue with row 3 of each pool involving Spain, Malaysia, France, and Korea. The draw concludes with row 2 with Germany, England, Argentina, and New Zealand.
Belgium are the defending champions. They beat the Netherlands in the 2018 final for their maiden title. Australia finished third.
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