The World Cup hockey tournament for men and women starts in The Hague this Saturday in the converted ADO Den Haag football stadium.

In total, 24 teams from 15 countries are taking part in the event. It is only the second time that both the men’s and the women’s World Cups have taken place at the same time.

The tournament is based at the ADO Den Haag football stadium which has been equipped with artificial turf and big screen monitors for the occasion.

Sell out

Some 15,000 people are expected to attend the tournament on a daily basis and most match days are sold out. Nos is broadcasting two matches a day live, including those featuring the Oranje teams. All the games can be followed via local broadcaster RTV West and live streaming.

Numerous side events have also been organised to coincide with the World Cup, based all over The Hague. There is a beach hockey tournament on the Scheveningen sea front and tournaments for veterans (up to the age of 70+), youth teams and disabled players.

The Dutch women’s team, ranked number one in the world, are favourites to take the title. Argentina and Australia are second and third. The Dutch men are currently in third place in the world rankings behind Australia and Germany.

Popular

Hockey is so popular in the Netherlands – there are some 240,000 hockey club members – that there are long waiting lists for junior players at many clubs.

In total, the country has over 300 clubs.

Rotterdam, for example, is one of the biggest clubs in the country with over 100 youth teams. Amsterdam city council is under pressure to convert under-used football pitches to hockey to cope with the demand.

Group phase

The group matches begin on Saturday in the Kyocera Stadium and a temporary stadium which has been built next to it. The finals take place on June 14 and June 15.

Men’s competition: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands.

Women’s competition: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, China, England, Germany, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, The Netherlands, USA.

More on this
10 reasons why the Dutch women are hot favourites to win the World Cup
Hockey World Cup website