The Men's FIH Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1971. It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer Olympics. Pakistan is the most successful team, having won the tournament four times. The Netherlands, Australia and Germany have each won three titles. Belgium and India have both won the tournament once. The 2023 tournament was held in Bhubaneswar, India from 13 to 29 January. Germany defeated Belgium in a penalty shoot-out 5–4 after the match ended in a 3–3 draw to win their third World Cup title. The World Cup expanded to 16 teams in 2018. History The Hockey World Cup was first conceived by Pakistan's Air Marshal Nur Khan. He proposed his idea to the FIH through Patrick Rowley, the first editor of World Hockey magazine. Their idea was approved on 26 October 1969 and adopted by the FIH Council at a meeting in Brussels on 12 April 1970. The FIH decided that the inaugural World Cup would be held in October 1971, in Pakistan. However, political issues would prevent that first competition from being played in Pakistan. The FIH had inadvertently scheduled the first World Cup to be played in Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Furthermore, Pakistan and India had been at war with each other only six years earlier. When Pakistan invited India to compete in the tournament, a crisis arose. Pakistanis, led by cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar, protested against India's participation in the Hockey World Cup. Given the intense political climate between Pakistan and India, the FIH decided to move the tournament elsewhere. In March 1971, coincidentally in the same month Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan, the FIH decided to move the first Hockey World Cup to the Real Club de Polo grounds in Barcelona, Spain, which was considered a neutral and peaceful European site. The FIH has set no requirements or limitations on the size of the competition. The 1971 Cup included only ten nations, the smallest World Cup. The 1978 Cup featured fourteen nations. The 2002, 2018 Cups featured sixteen nations. The remaining 10 World Cups have featured 12 nations. The first three tournaments were held every two years. The 1978 Cup was the only tournament held three years from the previous one. It was halfway between the Summer Olympics hockey competition and has