While the Netherlands women will be favourites to lift a hat-trick of titles and their fifth in six editions of the FIH Junior World Cup, their men’s counterparts are still to find success in the junior showpiece.
A Dutch under-21 men’s cohort has yet to win the Junior WC while there have been three different winners since 2016: India, Argentina and Germany.
Drawn alongside England, Malaysia, and Austria, the Netherlands’ coach Jesse Mahieu said: “It’s not our first time in India or in an FIH tournament, but we’ve never actually won the Junior Men’s World Cup.
“That’s our biggest motivation — to aim high as underdogs and get the maximum out of every player.”
India are hosts for the 2025 men’s edition which takes place from Nov 28-Dec 10 in Chennai and Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Both men’s and women’s events will see a record 24 national teams compete.
Germany enter the 2025 event as the defending champions, having won the 2023 title in Kuala Lumpur — their sixth Junior World Cup crown, the most by any nation. Germany defeated France in the final as Spain took bronze.
England qualified via their fifth place at the EuroHockey Junior Championships.
The expanded field for 2025 includes several debutants, among them China, Switzerland, Oman and Bangladesh,.
The 24 teams competing are distributed into the following pools:
Pool A: Canada, Germany, Ireland, South Africa
Pool B: Chile, India, Oman, Switzerland
Pool C: Argentina, China, Japan, New Zealand
Pool D: Belgium, Egypt, Spain, Namibia
Pool E: Austria, England, Malaysia, Netherlands
Pool F: Australia, Bangladesh, France, Korea
The Women’s Junior World Cup will be held from Dec 1-13 in Santiago, the third time in four editions that the Chilean capital has hosted the tournament.
The Dutch won the 2023 edition, defeating Argentina in a shoot-out after a 2–2 draw.
England’s best finish was third in the 2022 edition since the first tournament was first held in 1989.
Pool A: Netherlands, Japan, Chile, Malaysia
Pool B: Argentina, Belgium, Zimbabwe, Wales
Pool C: Germany, India, Ireland, Namibia
Pool D: England, South Africa, China, Austria
Pool E: Australia, Spain, Canada, Scotland
Pool F: United States, Korea, New Zealand, Uruguay
