Wales men set to learn World Cup opponents

Wales’ senior men will find out who they will face at this summer’s World Cup as the Pools are drawn on Tuesday 17^th March.  

The draw ceremony will take place in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at the Wagener Stadium – one of the two competition venues, alongside the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre, Belgium. 

Our senior men will find themselves in Pot 4 for the draw, so will be guaranteed some tough challenges and potentially opponents they haven’t faced in a while. 

You can watch it live through the Watch.Hockey platform, from 14:00 (GMT).  

The event will be held in Amsterdam and Wavre from 15 to 30 August 2026, with fans of course able to catch every minute live through Watch.Hockey. 

Wales are in the hat in the men’s tournament, following their third-placed finish in Santiago, Chile.  

A rollercoaster of emotions, the senior men progressed through the group in dramatic fashion with a 5-0 win over Scotland on matchday three, before edging past Poland 2-1 in the bronze medal match to secure qualification. 

Potentially coming up for the senior men are any of 15 other nations that have confirmed their attendance at the 2026 World Cup. 

Belgium and the Netherlands gained direct qualification. Australia and Spain qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League. Argentina secured qualification through the Pan American Cup, Germany qualified via the EuroHockey Championship, New Zealand qualified through the Oceania Cup, India qualified through the Asia Cup, and South Africa qualified via the Africa Cup of Nations. 

Meanwhile, Ireland, France, Malaysia, England, Pakistan and Japan all joined Wales in qualifying via the recent World Cup Qualifiers.  

The event will be held in Amsterdam and Wavre from 15 to 30 August 2026. Tickets are also on sale now, so if you’re thinking of heading over to support Wales, take a look!