The road to the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup just got a major landmark on its calendar. The International Hockey Federation has officially announced that the draw for both the Men's and Women's Hockey World Cups will take place on March 17, 2026, at the legendary Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands. The event will be broadcast live on watch.hockey beginning at 3pm CET, giving fans around the globe a front-row seat to what promises to be a defining moment in the sport's four-year cycle.

The choice of venue is fitting. Wagener Stadium, home to Dutch hockey and one of the most storied grounds in the sport, will also serve as one of the two host venues when the tournament itself gets underway from August 14 through August 30, 2026. The World Cup will be co-hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium, with matches split between Amstelveen and the Belgian city of Wavre, marking a collaborative effort between two of Europe's strongest hockey nations.

The co-hosting arrangement underlines the growing ambition of the FIH to elevate the profile of its flagship event. Both the Netherlands and Belgium are powerhouses in international field hockey, boasting passionate fan bases and world-class infrastructure. The Dutch women have long been a dominant force in the sport, while the Belgian men, known as the Red Lions, have emerged as one of the most formidable teams in the world over the past decade. Hosting the World Cup across two countries with such deep hockey traditions is expected to generate significant interest and atmosphere.

Before the draw can take place, however, the final lineup of qualifying teams must be determined. World Cup qualifiers are set to begin in early March, with a crucial round of matches scheduled from March 1 through March 7 in Ismailia, Egypt. The stakes could not be higher, as several prominent hockey nations will be battling for the remaining spots in the tournament. Among the teams vying for qualification in Egypt are the United States, Pakistan, England, and Japan, each of whom will be desperate to secure their place on the world stage.

Additional qualifying action will also take place in Santiago, Chile, broadening the global footprint of the qualification process and giving teams from the Americas a closer venue for their pursuit of World Cup glory.

The draw itself will sort the qualified nations into groups for both the men's and women's competitions, setting the stage for the pool-phase matchups that will define the opening rounds of the tournament. Seedings, based on the FIH World Rankings, will play a significant role in shaping the groups, but as any hockey fan knows, the draw always has the potential to produce dramatic and unpredictable combinations.

For fans and teams alike, the March 17 draw represents the moment when the 2026 World Cup transforms from an abstract date on the calendar into a concrete reality. Rivalries will be mapped out, travel plans will be set in motion, and coaching staffs will begin their tactical preparations in earnest.

With the qualifiers offering high drama in Egypt and Chile, and the draw ceremony set against the backdrop of one of hockey's most iconic venues, the coming weeks promise to deliver plenty of storylines for the global hockey community to follow. The countdown to August has well and truly begun.