League points will stick around: Why opening games are crucial at Hockey World Cup

The upcoming FIH Men’s and Women’s World Cups in Belgium and the Netherlands are set to follow a new three-stage format, with the league phase proving to be even more critical as points accumulated in the opening round will be carried over to subsequent stages. India's chief coach, Craig Fulton, elaborated on this by stating, "It’s an interesting one. It gives everyone that opportunity to eye a quarterfinal berth. It’s massively important that we amass however many points we can in the league."

The competition will commence with the first round, where the 16 teams will be split into four groups — A, B, C, and D. The top two teams from each group will progress to the second round, while the remaining eight will participate in the classification phase, split into pools G and H.

In the second round, the top two teams from Pools A and D will form Pool E, while Pool F will consist of the top two teams from Pools B and C. Crucially, the points earned in the initial round against teams eligible for this stage will be carried forward.

Subsequently, the top two teams from Pools E and F will advance to the semifinals, with the third-placed teams battling for fifth and sixth positions, and the fourth-placed teams competing in the seventh-eighth place classification match.

India's future fixtures, according to the schedule (IST), are as follows for the Men's team: a game against Wales on August 15 at 4:30 pm, an encounter with England on August 16 at 6:30 pm, and a match against Pakistan on August 19 at 6:30 pm. For the Women's squad, the team will face China on August 16 at 4:30 pm, take on South Africa on August 18 at 6:30 pm, and host England on August 20 at 6:30 pm.

India's historical performance in previous World Cups includes: Men's team finishing 3rd in 1971, runners-up in 1973, winners in 1975, 5th in 1978, 6th in 1982, 10th in 1986, 12th in 1990, 5th in 1994, 9th in 1998, 8th in 2006, 11th in 2010, 9th in 2014, 6th in 2018, and 9th in 2023. The Women's team achieved 4th place in 1974, 7th in 1978, 11th in 1983, 12th in 1998, 9th in 2006, 8th in 2010, 11th in 2018, and secured 9th position in 2022.