continued that way. In other words, the tournament has been held every four years ever since. Trophy The Hockey World Cup trophy was designed by the Bashir Moojid and created by the Pakistani Army. On 27 March 1971, in Brussels, the trophy was formally handed to FIH President Rene Frank by Mr H.E Masood, the Pakistani Ambassador to Belgium. The trophy consists of a silver cup with an intricate floral design, surmounted by a globe of the world in silver and gold, placed on a high blade base inlaid with ivory. At its peak is a model hockey stick and ball. Without its base, the trophy stands high. Including the base, the trophy stands . It weighs , including of gold, of silver, of ivory and of teak. Format The Hockey World Cup consists of a qualification stage and a final tournament stage. The format for each stage is the same. Qualification The qualification stage has been a part of the Hockey World Cup since 1977. All participating teams play in the qualification round. The teams divide into two or more pools and compete for a berth in the final tournament. The top two teams are automatically qualified and the rest of the berths are decided in playoffs. Final tournament The final tournament features the continental champions and other qualified teams. Sometimes it also features the winners of the Summer Olympics' hockey competition or the continental runners-up. The teams divide into pools once more and play a round robin tournament. The composition of the pools is determined using the current FIH World Rankings. Results Summaries Successful national teams Twentyseven teams have qualified for a Hockey World Cup. Of these, thirteen teams have made it to the semifinals. Eight teams have made it through to the finals. To date, the most successful teams are Pakistan, with four titles from six final appearances, the Netherlands, with three titles from seven final appearances, Germany and Australia with three titles from five final appearances, while India and Belgium won their lone titles in 1975 and 2018, respectively. Below is a list of teams that have finished in the top four positions in the tournament: * = host country ^ = includes results representing West Germany between 1971 and 1990 # = states that have since split into two or more independent countries Performance by host nations Nine nations have hosted the Hockey World Cup.