FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup: India to host in 2025

India will host the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup in December 2025, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced on Tuesday.

The tournament, set to feature 24 teams for the first time, will be the 14th edition of the Junior Hockey World Cup. The host city will be announced later.

“Giving more opportunities to play to a larger and more diverse number of national associations is one of the key pillars of our empowerment and engagement strategy,” FIH president Tayyab Ikram said in a statement.

“Therefore, I’m very happy that we’ve increased the number of participating teams for the FIH Hockey Junior World Cups and I look forward to seeing these 24 young teams, representing the future of our sport, next year,” the FIH chief added.

The most recent edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup was held in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in 2023. India lost to eventual champions Germany 4-1 in the semi-finals and went down to Spain 3-1 in the third-place playoff to settle for fourth place.

This will be the fourth time India will host the Junior hockey World Cup. The 2013 edition was held in New Delhi while Lucknow and Bhubaneswar played hosts in 2016 and 2021, respectively.

“This prestigious tournament highlights India's growing importance in international hockey and shows our dedication to developing the sport for future generations. We are excited to share India's rich hockey history and provide a stage for young talent to showcase their skills," said Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey.

India have won the Men’s Junior World Cup twice, in Australia in 2001 and on home soil in 2016. Germany, with seven wins, are the most successful team in the history of the competition which began in 1979.