Predicting a Hockey World Cup winner is harder than it looks. The pressure at this tournament is unlike anything else in the sport. Teams that dominate the Pro League for months can fall apart in a knockout match. A single penalty shootout can end a campaign that looked destined for a medal. The margins are that fine.
Yet some teams arrive at every World Cup carrying more than just hope. Form, pedigree, squad depth, home advantage. Some combination of these factors consistently puts certain sides above the rest. With the 2026 edition beginning on August 15 in Belgium and the Netherlands, here is who Give Me Hockey thinks can win it and why.
This analysis is based on Give Me Hockey’s review of the 2025-26 Pro League, recent championship matches, official FIH statistics, and squad announcements.
Belgium — The Team in Form
Belgium won the Pro League this season. Thirteen wins from 16 matches, 59 goals scored, 27 conceded. No other team matched that consistency. They arrive as the number one ranked side in the world and as the clearest favourites on form.
They play a structured, defensive counter-attacking game. Strong at the back, clinical when they break. Arthur Van Doren anchors the defence and is arguably Belgium’s most influential player. Van Doren has a rare ability to read the game beyond his defensive role. When Belgium need something different, he pushes into midfield, creates chaos, opens two or three possibilities, and is back in position before the opposition has processed what happened. Tom Boon, 36, scored 19 goals in 13 Pro League appearances and was named FIH Men’s Player of the Year for 2025. Alexander Hendrickx contributed 15 from penalty corners.
Between them, Boon and Hendrickx account for 58 per cent of Belgium’s total goals. Both will be specifically targeted by every side they face. If opposition defences neutralise either of them, Belgium’s other attacking options are significantly less tested at this level. That is the one vulnerability in an otherwise formidable side.
In 2026, Belgium have played 12 matches, won 10, and scored 46 goals while conceding just 21. Their field goal tally of 24 shows this is not just a penalty corner side. They create and convert from open play as well.
Craig Fulton, now India’s head coach, was assistant coach at Belgium when they won the 2018 World Cup and Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020. The counter-attacking defensive system India run today comes directly from the same setup. The student now faces the school.
Read More: India Women at the 2026 Hockey World Cup: Building Towards the Elite
Netherlands — The Olympic Champions
Their game is fluid, high-tempo and multi-dimensional. They press high, transition quickly and use width to pull defences apart. Goals come from across the pitch, not through one or two channels. Thierry Brinkman, their captain and the leading active scorer in World Cup history among players selected for 2026 with 10 goals, has been nominated for FIH Men’s Player of the Year in each of the last four editions. He is the player the whole system moves around. Duco Telgenkamp, who converted the decisive shootout penalty in the Paris 2024 gold medal final, offers a different kind of threat in the forward line.
One interesting pattern in their 2026 form. Eighteen of their 32 goals have come from penalty corners, compared to just 12 from open play. For a side known for fluid attacking hockey, that reliance on set pieces is worth watching. If opposition sides neutralise the PC, Netherlands will need to find goals in different ways.
Their 2026 form shows 12 matches, 5 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses. Mixed. They rested key players in the final Pro League leg. Belgium beat them twice. Australia beat them once. On home turf in Amstelveen, with a full stadium behind them, they will be a different proposition.
Netherlands won Olympic gold in 1996 in Atlanta and lifted the World Cup two years later on home soil in Utrecht. In 2024 they won gold again in Paris. The 2026 World Cup is on Dutch soil. Could this be another case of Olympic gold followed by World Cup glory on home soil?
England — The Dark Horse
England went unbeaten in all 12 Pro League fixtures played in 2026. They beat Australia twice. They took both shootout points against Netherlands. They finished second in the Pro League and are ranked third in the world. England have received less attention than their numbers justify. That is a mistake.
Their 2026 numbers make that case more forcefully than anything else. Sixteen matches, 11 wins, 5 draws, 0 losses, 54 goals scored and only 17 conceded. That defensive record is the best of any team in this article. Scoring 54 and conceding 17 in 16 matches is not a dark horse profile. That is a title contender’s profile.
England are fluid and opportunistic. They love to attack and they are good at it. In Nick Bandurak they have one of the most creative and dangerous forwards at this tournament. Ten goals in the Pro League, a constant threat from both open play and set pieces. Captain Zach Wallace, nominated for FIH Hockey Stars Player of the Year in both 2023 and 2024, provides the creative engine in midfield. Henry Croft, Samuel Hooper and Sam Ward add real depth across the forward line.
England’s best World Cup finish is silver in 1986. They have reached fourth place three times since. The form suggests this squad is capable of going further. How they handle knockout pressure is the question nobody has yet answered.
Australia — The Perennial Contender
Australia finished third in the Pro League. More significantly, they beat Netherlands and Belgium, both at the Belfius Hockey Stadium in Wavre, one of the actual World Cup venues. Beating both co-hosts during the season is the clearest argument for taking them seriously.
The Kookaburras attack in waves, press relentlessly and create chances through sheer intensity. Under new coach Mark Hager, who took charge in November 2024, the defensive structure has become more organised. From what was visible across recent Pro League matches, European teams now appear more comfortable playing through Australia’s press than they were during Australia’s dominant era.
Their 2026 form shows 16 matches, 9 wins, 2 draws, 5 losses, 40 goals scored and 31 conceded. Interestingly, 19 of those 40 goals came from penalty corners, the highest PC tally of any team in this article. Australia’s set piece threat is underrated and will cause problems for any side that is not specifically prepared for it.
Captain Jeremy Hayward, at 33 the only remaining player from Australia’s 2014 World Cup winning squad, finished as tournament top scorer at the 2023 World Cup with 9 goals. Ky Willott, Kookaburras Player of the Year in 2025, is the one to watch from midfield. Australia remain dangerous. They are just no longer automatic.
Germany — Serial Champions but in Transition
Germany are defending World Cup champions and reigning European champions. They won the 2023 World Cup, took Olympic silver at Paris 2024, and beat Netherlands in the 2025 EuroHockey Championship final on penalties.
Their 2026 form tells a different story. Twelve matches, 4 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses, 32 goals scored, 33 conceded. They are the only team in this article conceding more than they score. Belgium beat them 4-1 twice. But what makes Germany dangerous has never shown up in a league table. Germany find a way to come back. When you are ahead of Germany, they take something from you. That is not luck. That is a mentality and tactical flexibility that has defined their best teams for decades.
But this time, I do not think it will be enough. Coach Andre Henning has acknowledged this is a squad in transition, with an average age of just over 25, five players making their first major tournament appearance alongside 14 who have already won titles. Defending a World Cup title with a squad this young is a difficult ask. Christopher Ruhr, with 143 goals in 210 international appearances, remains their match-winner on his day. But one match-winner is not enough to defend a World Cup title with a squad this untested at this level.
India — The Outsiders With an Argument
India finished 8th in the Pro League and are ranked 8th in the world. The European Pro League leg is the reason they belong in this conversation.
Fulton used 33 different players across the Pro League as a deliberate assessment exercise. The European leg showed what the first-choice side produces. Wins over Germany, Netherlands and Pakistan, two draws against England with one shootout win each, achieved through the same defensive counter-attacking system that delivered two consecutive Olympic bronze medals.
India’s system comes directly from Belgium’s setup. Fulton absorbed those principles as assistant coach at Belgium before bringing them to India. Deep defensive shape, press to win the ball, hurt opposition in transition. The gap against Argentina and Belgium in the Pro League was clear. Against every other side they are likely to meet in the knockout rounds, it was not.
The concern is goals. In 2026, India scored 31 in 16 matches while conceding 39. Only 13 of those 31 came from penalty corners, low for a side that depends heavily on Harmanpreet Singh’s dragflick. At the Asia Cup in Rajgir, Abhishek, Sukhjeet and Harmanpreet all scored 6 times each. The goal threat against Asian opposition is there. Whether it translates against World Cup-level European defences is the real question. Fulton managed the load carefully before Paris and arrived at the right point. If the same curve holds, India will not be easy to beat from August 15.
Read More: Indian Men at the 2026 Hockey World Cup: Can 51 Years of Hurt Finally End?
Also Worth Watching — Spain
Spain will not win this World Cup. But Max Caldas, the former Netherlands coach who has been quietly rebuilding Spain since taking charge, has built something worth watching. Three of their players finished in the top eight Pro League scorers, Basterra with 9, Cunill with 8, Alvarez with 7. No other team had that spread of goal threat across their forward line. In a knockout match, Spain can hurt anyone.
Who Wins It?
This is one of the most open World Cups in recent memory. Netherlands have history and home advantage. England have quietly built a case most people have not noticed. Australia are never far away. Germany are dangerous even when they should not be. India, for the first time in a long time, have an argument for being in this conversation.
But Give Me Hockey’s pick is Belgium. We backed them in 2023 and they reached the final, losing on penalties to Germany. The form this season is again with them. The squad depth, the defensive structure, the goal threat from Boon and Hendrickx, and the hunger of a side that came within a shootout of the title last time around make them the pick again. And not to forget, Arthur Van Doren. If Belgium win this World Cup, he will be at the centre of it.
Who do you think wins it? Tell us in the comments or tag us on social media with your pick.
2026 Form
Methodology note: All 2026 form data covers FIH-sanctioned matches played between January and July 2026. Sources: FIH Pro League 2025-26 results and statistics, FIH World Rankings, FIH Hockey Stars award records, official national-team squad announcements, FIH and federation player profiles. | givemehockey.com
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