Friday, March 29, 2024

The five best hockey teams in the world

Hockey is quite a competitive sport, as is obvious. Where football (soccer to some) involves just running with your feet, hockey involves the added intrigue of a tiny ball pushed around by a long stick the players are perpetually bent over. The game is a major Olympic event, causing adrenaline rushes through the bloodstreams of its great number of fans. Hockey is the national sport of major countries like Canada, India and Pakistan.

With the Hockey World Cup in full swing at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar, India, the high-stake matches are luring more and more people to try their luck in figuring before the others what the result would be. If you wish to try your hand at betting your money on the matches, click here. With the sports betting industry being such a saturated market, a detailed and impartial review of the best and most trustworthy sites to bet on is something any man would treasure.  At topratedbettingsites.co.uk, you will find an in-depth overview of the best betting sites in the United Kingdoms.

To bet, though, a person needs to know which teams are the best and which stand the most chance. Here is a summarized look at the 5 best hockey teams in the world:

  1. Australia

With 3 World Cups under its belt—those of 1986, 2010 and 2014—the Australian men’s hockey team (nicknamed the Kookaburras), is surely the apple of any hockey fan’s eyes. They are proudly holding the top spot in the FIH World Ranking of 2018, showcasing an enviable 1906 points. They are the only team that holds the record of 5 consecutive wins in the Champions Trophy, from 2008 to 2012. The class of the Australian national team can be noted from the fact that while the highest ranking they have ever held is, obviously, number 1, the lowest they have been put to is only number 3. No other team in the world holds such stellar records.

  1. Argentina

As their logo very proudly shows, the Argentina men’s hockey teams are nicknamed Los Leones, or ‘The Lions’. Currently, they hold the second position in FIH World Rankings, right after Australia, pushed there from their first position in late 2017. Argentina is the only team that succeeded in securing a gold medal for the Americas at the Olympic Games, where, in the Summer Olympics 2016 at Rio de Janeiro, they defeated Belgium with a sliding 4-2 win.

Argentina hockey team are prominent in the fact that they have appeared in every Hockey World Cup since 1973, though their best position has unfortunately been 3rd, for a bronze medal in 2014 World cup at The Hague. Continentally, Argentina is the most successful team in the Americans, winning most tournaments they play in. These include nine gold medals in the Pan American Games and three in Pan American Cup.

  1. Belgium

Ranked third in the FIH World Ranking, Belgium (nicknamed the ‘Red Lions’) is currently holding its hottest position on the international score chart. They are noteworthy in that they have made it to six semi-finals at the EuroHockey National Championship, in which they bagged the third position in 2007 and were the runners-up in 2013 and 2017. They won the bronze medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics, silver at the 2014-15 Hockey World League, gold at the 2011 Champions Challenge, and most recently silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, losing against Argentina for 4-2.

  1. Netherlands

Now fourth in the FIH World Ranking, Netherlands is nonetheless one of the most successful teams in Hockey history. The list of their achievement is quite a feast for the eyes, with them winning the Summer Olympics twice, the Hockey World Cup three times, the Champions Trophy eight times, the EuroHockey Nations Championship three times and the Hockey World League once. At the fourth tier in the latest ranking, two down from its best, the team is assuredly at a low point in its history, but the laundry list of past honours mentioned above shows that the Netherlands deserves a place in this list of the best 5 field hockey teams in the world.

  1. India

Nicknamed ‘Men in Blue’ or ‘Bharat Army’, the Indian field hockey team was the first ever non-European member of the International Hockey Federation. From 1928 to 1960, the team remained unbeaten in Olympic hockey, winning six consecutive gold medals. During this monumental time, the team enjoyed a 30-0 winning streak, until the thread was broken with an unfortunate defeat in the 1960 finals. India has also won the 1975 World Cup at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The team is the most successful team in the Olympics to date, the itinerary including eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

Currently, the team holds its best-ever position in the FIH World Ranking, coming fifth just after the Netherlands.

There are many other teams in the world of hockey that move through the rankings—like Pakistan, most successful team in the Hockey World cup with four championships to its name, now down at number 13th—but, in the current scenario of things with the Hockey World Cup running in India, these three will surely be the ones to watch out for.

This article is advertorial and not reflective of The Hockey Paper’s editorial

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