Hockey5s World Cup
Field hockey under the new rules is a relatively young sport. It has only recently gained professional status. Field hockey first appeared in the middle of the last century and received positive fan feedback. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, tests of a new format of field hockey with modified game rules, Hockey5s, began.
The new format was first seen publicly at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China and established itself as a fast and dynamic sport.
Four years later, in Buenos Aires, the organizers added this discipline to the list again, and they did not miss a beat. Many spectators gathered in the stands during the matches as this sport immediately found its fans. After that, it was decided to create a separate professional tournament for field hockey – Hockey5s.
The Hockey5s World Cup was first played in January 2024 and will be held regularly every four years from now on. Countries’ national teams participate in the tournament: 16 squads from five continents. Both the women’s and men’s disciplines saw the participation of the Indian team. Simranjit Singh led the men’s team, while the women’s was led by experienced goalkeeper Rajni Etimarpu.
The Last FIH Hockey5s World Cup 2024 Results
The first FIH Hockey5s World Cup was held in January 2024 in Muscat, the capital of Oman. The women’s tournament took place from 24 to 27 January, followed immediately by the men’s competition from 28 to 31 January.
In both the women’s and men’s tournaments, 16 teams participated. They were divided into four groups of four squads. In the group stage, the teams played one match against each other. The first two group runners-up went to the quarter-finals, and the rest went to the play-off of outsiders, where the places for each team were played.
The Netherlands were the FIH Hockey5s World Cup winners in both the men’s and women’s disciplines of the tournament’s first round. They defeated Malaysia in the men’s final and India in the women’s.
Below is a list of all national teams’ final places at the end of the tournaments:
| # | Men’s | Women’s |
| 1 | Netherlands | Netherlands |
| 2 | Malaysia | India |
| 3 | Oman | Poland |
| 4 | Poland | South Africa |
| 5 | India | Uruguay |
| 6 | Egypt | Malaysia |
| 7 | Kenia | Ukraine |
| 8 | Trinidad and Tobago | New Zealand |
| 9 | Pakistan | USA |
| 10 | Switzerland | Namibia |
| 11 | Australia | Australia |
| 12 | New Zealand | Fiji |
| 13 | USA | Thailand |
| 14 | Nigeria | Paraguay |
| 15 | Fiji | Zambia |
| 16 | Jamaica | Oman |
In the men’s final, the Netherlands faced Malaysia. The match was very dynamic and exciting. The Dutch were the first to open the scoring, but Malaysia restored parity after a couple of minutes. But in the first third, the Netherlands ensured a calm result until the end of the match. And they took the game to a natural 5-2 victory.
In the women’s final, the Netherlands played against India. However, everything was much more pragmatic for the favorite in this match. The Dutch had organized themselves a lead in goals as early as in the first third. India scored two goals, but the match ended with a 7-2 victory for the Netherlands.
Both Dutch teams have performed well in the tournaments. Compared to other countries, this sport is quite at a high level of development in the Netherlands. Field hockey has had many fans in the country for years, contributing to successful international results.
FIH Men’s Hockey5s World Cup
The field hockey format was introduced back in the 1970s. Various tournaments were organized in both men’s and women’s disciplines. The World Cup format started in the men’s category as early as 1971, with Pakistan winning the first cup trophy.
There have been six winners in the 50 years of the tournament. Below is a list of all the winners of the World Field Hockey Championship:
| Team | Wins | Years |
| Pakistan | 4 | 1971, 1978, 1982, 1994 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 1973, 1990, 1998 |
| Australia | 3 | 1986, 2010, 2014 |
| Germany | 3 | 2002, 2006, 2023 |
| India | 1 | 1975 |
| Belgium | 1 | 2018 |
However, in the 21st century, the field hockey format with modified rules began to be tested. Hockey5s differs from regular field hockey in some ways, including regulations, field markings, and the number of participants. Basically, it is a totally different sport. However, both hockeys are closely related to each other.
Players of the regular field hockey format can participate in Hockey5s without limitation.
If we talk about the FIH Men’s Hockey5s World Cup won by the Dutch national team in 2024, there are the following results: the best player was the Malaysian Ahimullah Anuar; the best goalkeeper – Joey van Valstijn from the Netherlands; and the best young player – Hannan Shahid from Pakistan.
The top scorer was Wahid Rana of Pakistan, with 23 goals. Tiga Marcano of Trinidad and Tobago also scored 16 goals. Pakistan’s Hannan Hashid rounded out the top three with 13 goals.
FIH Women’s Hockey5s World Cup
Like the men’s, the Women’s Field Hockey World Championship first appeared in the early 1970s. The first champion was the Dutch national team. In 1974, they defeated Argentina 1-0 in the final game. There have been four winners in 50 years. The most successful team is the Netherlands, which has nine victories to its credit.
| Team | Wins | Years |
| Netherlands | 9 | 1974, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1990, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
| Argentina | 2 | 2002, 2010 |
| Australia | 2 | 1994, 1998 |
| Germany | 2 | 1976, 1981 |
However, after the test tournaments in the Hockey5s format of the 2010s, it was decided to organize the women’s field hockey world cup together with the men’s tournament under modified rules.
Speaking about the FIH Hockey5s Women’s World Cup in 2024, where the Dutch national team celebrated the victory, the tournament’s best player was Noor de Baat from the winning team. The best goalkeeper was Marta Kuczarska from Poland, and the best young player was Deepika Soreng from the Indian team.
Speaking about the best scorers, Teresa Viana from the Uruguayan national team took first place with 19 goals, followed by Bente Van der Veldt from the Netherlands with 15 goals. Toni Marks of South Africa, Manuela Vilar of Uruguay, and Carol Nakombe of Zambia scored 11 goals each.
Next FIH Hockey5s World Cup
The next Hockey5s World Cup is scheduled for 2028. Malaysia will be the host of this tournament. The country’s men’s national team finished second at the World Cup in Oman. This was one of Malaysia’s most remarkable achievements in hockey sports. It partly influenced the country’s decision to bid to host the next such World Cup.
One must qualify regionally to make it to the list of 16 teams that will participate in the World Cup. Three teams from each of the five continents will be sent to the tournament, with the host nation also participating.
However, if we consider regular field hockey under the old rules, the next one will take place in Amstelveen (Netherlands) and Wavre (Belgium). Both the women’s and men’s tournaments will be played simultaneously. There will be 16 teams in both competitions, divided into 4 groups. The group winners will go straight to the quarter-finals. The squads with 2–3 places will first play in the ⅛ of the final to get a ticket to the ¼ finals.
Then, according to the playoff, the teams will play up to the final, where the new champion is determined. The squads eliminated before the ¼ final will play each other for the final spots in the tournament, from 9th to 16th.
The Dutch teams are favorites for the men’s and women’s competitions at the World Championships in 2026 without a doubt. The national men’s teams of Germany, Belgium, and Australia are pretty impressive. In the women’s, Argentina, Australia, and Germany are also worth mentioning.