In Which Year Was The First Hockey World Cup Organised And Which Team Won This?

While hockey has been around as a game for a while now, the history of the hockey World Cup is much more recent. In the 1970s, men's hockey and women's hockey had separate international governing bodies. The affairs of world men's hockey were managed by the Federation Internationale de Hockey sur Gazon or FIHG, while those of women's hockey were managed by the International Federation of Women's Hockey Association (IFWHA). Both these outfits merged to form the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) in 1982.

However, the first World Cup was held before this merger. It was held in the year 1971. The winner of that tournament was Asian giant Pakistan. They defeated Spain, while India finished third. For women, the first World Cup was held three years after the men's version. The winners were the Netherlands, Argentina finished as runners-up, while West Germany finished in third place. Earlier, the World Cup was held separately for men and women every two years. From 1978, the men's event has been held every four years, while for the women this happened in the year 1986.