TOGETHER FOR GLORY: WHY 2026 IS HOCKEY'S BIGGEST CELEBRATION YET
Ahead of the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup, the below feature explores what makes this year's tournament unique, with the men's and women's competitions being held together across Belgium and the Netherlands.
This article was written by Joshua McDougall & Dom Gasparich in collaboration with Hockey New Zealand.
Five days from now, the hockey world will do something that remains surprisingly uncommon in international team sports: have women and men contesting their greatest prize in one shared event.
In two of the globe's great hockey heartlands, the sport's biggest show is about to burst into life, and the world's leading women and men are arriving together.
For 16 action-packed days, 32 national teams (16 men's, 16 women's) will chase the World Cup trophy across the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, near Amsterdam, and the new Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre, Belgium. One interwoven match schedule and a promise that captures the scale of the occasion: "Together for Glory".
The 2026 edition of the world cup will be the second time Hockey's pinnacle event for both men and women has been held simultaneously, though the first since 2014, when it was held in The Hague, Netherlands. When this tournament took place, it became just the third team sport, trailing only Beach Volleyball and Rugby Sevens to hold both the men's and women's editions at the same location, at the same time.
For the sport itself, it means even more. Men's and women's hockey will share host nations, venues, tickets, branding, and the global spotlight. Day tickets cover every match at the selected venue, allowing supporters who arrive to follow one team to discover another. Women's and men's hockey will not be competing for separate moments of attention. They will be generating the atmosphere together.
Every day of pool play will see two women's and two men's games taking place at each venue. That’s eight world-class hockey matches every day!
Gender parity also lies in the finer details, beyond the venues. The umpires are not assigned to one tournament or another, men and women will umpire across both. The trophies are the same size, following a conscious move by the FIH in 2018 to update the women's trophy to match the men's.
Both Vantage Black Sticks teams qualified through the 2025 Oceania Cup, ensuring Aotearoa has a presence in each half of the event. Our women find themselves based initially in Belgium, while our men will call the Netherlands home during pool play.
The tournament stands as a platform to inspire. Young players from Tauranga to Timaru, from Whangarei to Westport have a chance to see male and female athletes compete at the ground as one another, with the same stakes.
At local turfs around the Motu, girls and boys train at the same facilities, play on the same weekends, and grow up watching the same coaches and senior players. The World Cup simply takes that everyday experience and puts it on the sport's biggest stage.
The scoreboards will eventually give us two champions. Before then will come the colour of the crowds, the noise around the circles, the pressure of shootouts and the performances that turn players into World Cup names.
The event's wider success will be seen in packed stands, broadcast audiences and supporters moving enthusiastically between the two competitions.
For New Zealanders, the invitation is wonderfully simple: follow both teams and embrace the whole event.
Two Black Sticks campaigns. Two World titles. One Stage.
Vantage Black Sticks match times (NZT)
Women:
Vs Belgium, 3:30am Monday 17th August
Vs Ireland, 9pm Tuesday 18th August
Vs Spain, 12am Friday 21st August
Men:
Vs Netherlands, 2am Monday 17th August
Vs Japan, 7:30pm Tuesday 18th August
Vs Argentina, 10:30pm Thursday 20th August
All FIH World Cup 2026 matches are streamed on Watch Hockey.