Lausanne, Switzerland: A return to action for many teams to international hockey, through the FIH Hockey Pro League and the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, has seen movements in the world rankings.

While there have been shifts and movements up and down the table, the top of the men’s and women’s rankings remains unaltered. 

In men’s rankings, Australia who were last in action at the Commonwealth Games 2022, remain at the top of the men’s rankings with 3052 points. 

Belgium (2858), Germany (2623) and Argentina (2284) hold on to their second, fourth and seventh positions respectively after a fiercely competitive FIH Hockey Pro League mini-tournament in Mendoza, Argentina. Germany had overtaken Belgium for the second spot on the ranking table after the first half of the mini-tournament had resulted in 2 wins for Germany, and 2 losses for Belgium, but a good comeback for Belgium in their final two matches brought them back above Germany, into the second place. 

Netherlands (2847) continue to remain in the third position, as they begin their FIH Hockey Pro League 2022-23 campaign on 13 December 2022.

India (2487), Spain (2120) and New Zealand (1918) played the first mini-tournament of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022-23 in India. The results from the mini-tournament meant India, Spain and New Zealand continued to hold on to their fifth, eighth and ninth spots. England (2359) remain in the sixth position, and will begin their FIH Hockey Pro League 2022-23 campaign on 13 December in a mini-tournament with Netherlands and Argentina. 

The 2022 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup has shaked things up with hosts and first-time winners, Malaysia (1899) holding on to the tenth position, ahead of France (1804), who stay eleventh. Korea (1760) held on to the twelfth position after winning the silver medal, while Pakistan’s (1543) bronze medal victory saw them move up one position to seventeenth at the expense of Japan, who they defeated in the bronze medal match, who slip down one place to eighteenth. South Africa’s (1562) last-place finish at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup saw them drop two spots to the sixteenth position. 

Ireland (1652) continue to remain in the thirteenth position, while Canada (1622) and Wales (1617) move up a spot each to fourteenth and fifteenth, following South Africa’s drop in position. 

In women’s rankings there is little movement as the first FIH Hockey Pro League mini-tournament between Argentina, Belgium and Germany was closely contested, with Argentina, Germany and Belgium each registering impressive wins over the others. 

These results keep Netherlands (3150) at the top of the table with a comfortable margin over second placed Argentina (2653). Australia (2588) and England (2248) continue in the third and fourth spots. England will begin their FIH Hockey Pro League 2022-23 campaign on 13 December in Argentina, while Australia start theirs on 10 February.

Germany (2199) and Belgium (2175) are separated by fewer points than before after their recent matches, but continue to remain in the fifth and sixth spots, ahead of Spain (2146) and India (2010), who will be in action in early December in the inaugural FIH Hockey Nations Cup. 

New Zealand (1997) and China (1794) wrap up the top-10, with China starting their FIH Hockey Pro League 2022-23 campaign on the 10 February 2023 in Australia, and New Zealand beginning theirs on 18 February 2023 at home. 

Japan (1700), Korea (1654) and Ireland (1563), who remain just outside the top-10 in eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth places respectively, will join India and Spain in the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup starting 11 December 2022. 

Chile (1430) continue their impressive rise in the rankings, moving ahead of Canada (1425), into the fourteenth spot following a gold medal match victory over Argentina in the finals of the XII South American Games.

United States (1316) stay in the sixteenth spot ahead of their start to the new FIH Hockey Pro League campaign on 18 February 2023 in New Zealand. Italy (1229) and South Africa (1150), the final two teams who will be a part of the upcoming FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup, currently occupy the eighteenth and twentieth positions in the world rankings. 

To see the complete FIH World Rankings, please click here.

The rankings calculations model that FIH introduced on 1st January 2020 moved away from the previous tournament-based rankings system to a dynamic, match-based method where opposing teams exchange points in official, FIH sanctioned games. The number of points exchanged depends on the result of the match, the relative ranking of the teams and the importance of the match. More information about the new rankings model can be found below. 

How the FIH World Rankings work:

The number of points exchanged depends on the result of the match, the relative ranking of the teams and the importance of the match. 

FIH World Rankings explained:

  • Based on the Elo rating system, which is used as the basis of many other sports ranking systems 
  • When two nations play against each other, a number of ranking points are exchanged between them 
  • In every match, the number of points gained by one team is exactly matched by the number of points lost by the other
  • Teams will win more points for beating teams ranked above them, and therefore teams will lose more points for losing to a team ranked below them 
  • Teams will win less points for beating teams ranked below them, and therefore teams will lose less points for losing to a team ranked above them
  • If a draw occurs, the lower ranked team will gain a small number of points and the higher ranked team will lose the same number of points 
  • The number of points exchanged is dependent on the result of the match (win, lose, shootout win/loss or draw), the importance of the match (part of a major tournament, or a test series for example), and the relative difference in ranking points between the teams before the match. 

More details about the formula used in the algorithm, weightings of matches and other factors can be found HERE together with a Frequently Asked Questions document HERE.