India has a rich history in Olympic hockey, but its performance in the FIH Hockey World Cup has seen a long decline. India won its last World Cup medal, a Gold, in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur under captain Ajit Pal Singh. The 2026 tournament marks exactly 51 years since that historic victory, during which India has failed to finish on the podium.

India is the most successful nation in Olympic field hockey history, with a record eight gold medals. The team dominated the Olympics from 1928 to 1956, winning six consecutive golds, followed by golds in 1964 and 1980. This legendary success created a deep emotional bond between the sport and Indian fans, making the subsequent World Cup and Olympic medal droughts particularly painful.

The 1975 World Cup was the last major hockey tournament played on natural grass. In 1976, the Olympics introduced synthetic turf (AstroTurf). This transition severely affected India and Pakistan, whose players were experts in close ball control and dribbling on grass. Artificial turf made the game much faster and physical, favoring European teams with better athletic resources and infrastructure, leading to a long decline in Indian hockey.

India’s men’s hockey team won its last Olympic medal (Gold) in 1980. For the next 41 years, the team struggled, failing to reach the podium. This long spell of failure (the ‘Olympic jinx’) was broken at Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021) when India defeated Germany 5-4 to win Bronze. The team proved this was not a fluke by winning another Bronze at Paris 2024 under captain Harmanpreet Singh, who was also the tournament’s top scorer.

South African Craig Fulton succeeded Graham Reid as India’s head coach in March 2023. Under his guidance, India won Gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. In 2025, India secured its fourth Asia Cup title by defeating South Korea in the final in Rajgir. Because the Asia Cup acts as a continental qualifier, this championship win directly booked India’s spot at the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup.

The FIH Pro League is an elite global league for national teams. Although India finished 8th out of 9 teams in the 2025-26 season with only 19 points, their campaign included impressive individual victories. They defeated World champions Germany 3-1 on June 17, 2026, and Olympic champions Netherlands 3-2 on June 21, 2026, during the Rotterdam leg, showing they can compete with the world’s best.

Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Hockey India introduced a saffron-colored jersey. Management defended the change by stating that the traditional blue jersey blended with the blue synthetic pitches, hurting player visibility, though some critics opposed it. Additionally, this is India’s first major tournament without legendary goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, who retired after the Paris 2024 Olympics. In recognition of his 18-year career, Hockey India retired his No. 16 jersey.

India is placed in Pool D of the 2026 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup alongside England, Pakistan, and Wales. England represents a formidable opponent as one of Europe’s top teams. Pakistan, while having slipped in rankings in recent years, remains India’s traditional arch-rival, making their head-to-head match the most highly anticipated game of the group stage.

In the last two Men’s Hockey World Cups (2018 in Bhubaneswar and 2023 in Bhubaneswar-Rourkela), hosts India finished 6th and 9th respectively. After the 2026 World Cup in August, the team heads to the Nagoya Asian Games (September-October 2026). Winning the Asian Games Gold is critical because it awards a direct qualification spot (‘berth’) for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, avoiding the tough Olympic qualification tournaments.

The Indian women’s hockey team went through significant administrative and coaching instability before the 2026 World Cup. Head coach Harendra Singh resigned in late 2025 following complaints from players regarding his coaching style. Around the same time, allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment involving hockey officials and coaching staff created media controversy. To restore stability, Hockey India re-appointed Dutchman Sjoerd Marijne, who had previously guided the team to a historic 4th place at the Tokyo Olympics.

Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne first coached the Indian women’s team from 2017 to 2021, leading them to a historic 4th place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Upon his return in early 2026, he immediately guided the team to victory in the World Cup Qualifiers in Hyderabad (March 2026) and a gold medal at the FIH Women’s Nations Cup, which earned India promotion back to the prestigious FIH Pro League.

The Hockey India League (HIL) was successfully revived for the 2025-26 season, which concluded in January 2026, offering Indian players valuable exposure to top international talents. At the inaugural 1974 Women’s Hockey World Cup in Mandelieu, France, India finished fourth under captain Ajinder Kaur. This remains the Indian women’s hockey team’s best-ever finish in World Cup history.

The Indian women’s hockey team is placed in Pool D of the 2026 World Cup alongside China, South Africa, and England. China represents a major challenge after their historic silver-medal run at Paris 2024 under legendary coach Alyson Annan. England is also a formidable opponent, ranked higher than India in the FIH standings, making these matches critical for India to secure a spot in the next stage.

At the 2022 Women’s FIH Hockey World Cup co-hosted by Spain and the Netherlands, the Indian team finished 9th overall. They missed out on the quarterfinal crossover matches but finished strongly by beating Canada and Japan in the classification matches. Improving on this 9th-place finish is their immediate target before focusing on the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games.

The 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup represents a historic first as both the men’s and women’s tournaments (16 teams each, totaling 32 teams) are held concurrently, co-hosted by Wavre in Belgium and Amstelveen in the Netherlands. The ‘tricky format’ refers to the elimination of traditional knockout quarterfinals; instead, teams qualifying from the initial pools enter a second pool stage to determine the semi-finalists, making consistency crucial.

The 2028 Summer Olympic Games will be hosted by Los Angeles, USA. For the Indian hockey squads, the 2026 World Cup serves as a vital benchmark. Success here will help develop young talents and establish stable team chemistry (‘cohesive units’) under coaches Craig Fulton and Sjoerd Marijne, laying a solid foundation for their ultimate target of reclaiming or winning Olympic medals in 2028.