The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced the names of the countries that are interested in hosting the men's and women's World Cups following the completion of the bidding process for the events.
The bids from four continents - Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania - to host one or both World Cups were received. England, in partnership with Wales, Germany and South Africa, have bidded to host the 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup.
For the 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, Australia, South Africa and Uruguay have shown interest. Meanwhile, Belgium and the Netherlands have jointly bidded and South Africa has raised its hand to host both the showpiece events.
The hosts will be decided at the Executive Board meeting on November 3 and announced at the FIH Congress, which will be held virtually on November 4-5 this year.
"On behalf of FIH, I’d like to thank all National Associations who are bidding for our flagship events. We’re looking at really strong, and also diverse, bids here," FIH CEO Thierry Weil said.
"We will now conduct a thorough analysis of each dossier so that the Event Bidding Task Force is fully informed of all aspects when making their recommendation to the Executive Board."
The next FIH Hockey Women's World Cup will be played next month from July 1 to 17 in Terrassa, Spain and Amsterdam, Netherlands, whilst the next FIH Hockey Men's World Cup will take place in January 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, India.