The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Saturday released the draw for this year’s FIH Men’s Junior World Cup, which will see Namibia’s junior men’s team facing serious competition from some of the world’s hockey powerhouses.
The 2025 FIH Men’s Junior World Cup will take place in November and December, in Chennai and Madurai (Tamil Nadu state) India and will see the Namibian sides competing against tough opponents.
In the fixtures released on Saturday by hockey ruling body, Namibia’s U/21 team is placed in Pool D alongside, Spain, Belgium and fellow African qualifiers Egypt. Three African countries are taking part in the prestigious junior tournament including South Africa. For the first time, the tournament will feature 24 teams.
Reacting to the draw yesterday, U/21 men’s team head coach Johann Weyhe said he was happy with their group and remained confident of their chances to progress to the next phase of the competition.
“We are happy with the draw, I believe it’s a decent group, where chances are there for each team to progress if they take their opportunities. I think the draw was done fairly by the ruling body, and we can’t change what we have but to prepare for what is coming,”
In terms of preparations, he said: “We have started our training and my other coaches and I have started attending every hockey match to scout for potential players. We are not only focusing on those who were in the team but are open to everyone with potential whom we think aligns with our mission,” he said.
Namibia earned a spot at the competition after they finished second in the Junior Africa Cup held in Windhoek earlier this year, coming behind South Africa. Germany are the current Junior Men’s World Champions, having defeated France 2–1 in the final of the 2023 edition, to win a record-extending seventh title.
Meanwhile FIH president Tayyab Ikram said during the draw fans can expect an exciting tournament: “It is a great pleasure for me to be here ahead of a milestone moment as we start the journey towards the first ever 24-team FIH Junior Hockey World Cup! It is a part of the FIH strategy to empower and engage the youth from all nations, including the emerging ones, and this event will be the first step towards that.
“I express gratitude to the Tamil Nadu leadership chief minister M. K. Stalin and deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for welcoming the young stars to the two beautiful cities of Chennai and Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu. This World Cup also brings with it the opportunity to enhance our hockey infrastructure and in the city of Madurai, introduce a new state-of-art hockey stadium, he said”
– Additional reporting Hockey Africa
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na