AMSTELVEEN (Netherl­ands): The FIH Men’s World Cup starts on Saturday with Pakistan set to start their campaign in the global event with a clash against England.

The 16th edition of the Aug 15-30 global showpiece will be hosted jointly by the Netherlands and Belgium.

Germany are the defending champions of the 16-nation event. They beat Belgium in the 2023 final held in Odisha, India.

Pakistan lifted the title in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994 while Australia, the Netherlands and Germany have each won the trophy three times.

The participating teams of the forthcoming event are divided into four pools.

Pool ‘A’ contains Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and the Netherlands; pool ‘B’ comprises Belgium, France, Germany and Malaysia; and pool ‘C’ consists of Australia, Spain, Ireland and South Africa. A new crossover-pool format has replaced the traditional quarter-finals, with teams moving into pools E to H after the opening stage.

Pakistan are part of pool ‘D’ which, other than England, also includes India and Wales.

Pakistan will be playing in a hockey World Cup after eight years, as the Green-shirts could not qualify for the 2023 edition. Pakistan will face England at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands. The Abu Bakr Mahmood-led team then face Wales on Aug 17 before clashing with arch-rivals India on Aug 19.

Pakistan, the former four-time World Cup winners, have used their preparations in the Netherlands to expose the squad to different conditions. They played warm-ups against South Africa and Japan, losing 3-1 to the former before securing a 2-1 victory over Japan.

The weather has also been a talking point, with temperatures in the Netherlands climbing above 34 degrees. However, conditions are expected to become a bit pleasant in coming days.

Pakistan are expected to face a tough pool campaign. They suffered defeats against England and India in the 2025-26 FIH Pro League, losing all the 16 matches over four legs held in four countries.

Pakistan and England have faced each other eight times in the previously held World Cups. England hold the edge winning four encounters compared with Pakistan’s two victories, while two matches ended without a result. One of Pakistan’s notable wins against England came at the 1998 World Cup, when they defeated England 7-5.

India also start their campaign on Saturday with a clash against Wales in Amstelveen. Also on Saturday, Germany face Malaysia while Belgium take on France in pool ‘B’ matches.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2026