The 2025 Junior Men's Hockey World Cup kicks off in Tamil Nadu on Friday. It will be the first edition of the junior World Cup to have 24 teams participating in it, as hockey looks to expand its horizons.
This is the fourth time in five editions that India is hosting the tournament, having previous hosted it in Delhi in 2014, Lucknow in 2016, and Bhubaneswar in 2021.
Here's everything you need to know about the tournament.
Where will it be played?
Across two venues in Tamil Nadu - the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai, and the newly-opened Madurai International Hockey Stadium. The tournament begins on November 28, with the final scheduled to be in Chennai on December 10.
The Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium last hosted top-level hockey in 2023, when the Asian Champions Trophy was held there - where hosts India won a pulsating final against Malaysia.
Which are the participating teams?
All the usual suspects are there, in addition to several emerging nations, who have benefited from the tournament's expansion. There are seven Asian teams, nine European teams, three from Africa, three from the Americas, and two from Oceania. The 24 teams have been divided into six pools for the group stage.
Pool A: Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Canada
Pool B: India, Chile, Switzerland, Oman
Pool C: Argentina, New Zealand, China, Japan
Pool D: Belgium, Spain, Egypt, Namibia
Pool E: Netherlands, England, Malaysia, Austria
Pool F: Australia, France, South Korea, Bangladesh
Originally, Pakistan were slated to play in the tournament and were drawn in Pool B alongside hosts India. However, due to the ongoing political tensions between the two countries, they pulled out of the tournament, due to it being hosted in India. They were later replaced in the draw by Oman.
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The leaders of tomorrow are ready to take charge!��
Captains from across the globe came together for the official photoshoot ahead of the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 - starting tomorrow! ��
Who's taking the... pic.twitter.com/zqsFhlM7xx- Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) November 27, 2025
What's the format?
Following the pool stage, the teams directly move into the quarterfinals, with other classification playoffs for places 9 to 24 happening parallelly. The top team in each of the six groups and the two best second-placed teams qualify for quarterfinals
What about India's squad?
Coach PR Sreejesh has named a squad that has stuck together for a fairly long period of time and has played a number of tournaments together. Captained by Rohit Yadav, the squad has the likes of Amir Ali and Gurjot Singh, who have already played for the senior team, while Arshdeep Singh has been part of the senior team camps, having serious impressed for the Hyderabad Toofans in the Hockey India League earlier this year.
Araijeet Singh Hundal will be a big miss, who won't play the tournament due to a shoulder injury. His absence is a blow, as he is a goal scorer in open play and has an excellent dragflick on him. With him missing, the dragflicking duties will fall on the shoulders of captain Rohit, while Arshdeep will have to shoulder more attacking responsibility in open play.
Coach Sreejesh himself has a lot to prove. This tournament was the ultimate goal for him when he took control of the squad last year. They now have experience of playing together and will also have home advantage at the tournament. Anything less than holding the trophy aloft at the end of the tournament, cannot be considered a success for Sreejesh.
India have won the Junior Asia Cup under Sreejesh and also finished third at the 2024 Sultan of Johor Cup.
All matches will be shown on Star Sports Network and JioHotstar.