2027 Men's EuroHockey Championship
| Tournament details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Host country | England | ||
| Dates | Summer 2027 | ||
| Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) | ||
| Venue | 2 (in 1 host city) | ||
| |||
The 2027 Men's EuroHockey Championship will be the 21st edition of the Men's EuroHockey Championship, the biennial international men's field hockey championship of Europe organised by the European Hockey Federation. This will be the first edition since 2003 with 12 teams participating, it will have a new format.
The tournament will be held alongside the women's tournament at two venues in London, England in the Summer of 2027. The preliminary rounds and the quarter-finals will be held at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre and the semi-finals and finals will be held at Twickenham Stoop.[1][2][3] It will be the third time England will host the Men's EuroHockey Championship and the second time it will be held in London. The winner will qualify for the 2028 Summer Olympics.[4]
Format change
Original format change
In April 2024, it was announced the EuroHockey Championships would expand from an eight-team to a 12-team tournament, introducing a knock-out format for both men's and women's competitions. This marked the first major format change in over two decades, aimed at increasing competition and inclusivity in European hockey. Under the new format, the teams ranked 5th to 12th competed in an initial knock-out round, with winners advancing to the quarter-finals. The losers of this preliminary round received a second chance, facing off against the top four ranked teams for the remaining quarter-final slots. Quarter-final winners progressed to the semi-finals and then to either the final or the bronze medal match, while quarter-final losers competed for rankings from 5th to 8th place. Teams finishing in the lowest positions played additional matches to determine rankings from 9th to 12th.[5][6]
Final format change
It was decided to scrap the all knock-out matches format because it could have impacted tickets and potential television coverage if a host nation exited early.[7] A group stage was added with four groups of three. The top six nations on the FIH World Ranking following the 2026 World Cup are in Pools A and B, and the remainder are in Pools C and D. The top teams from each pool continue on to the championship round, with the runners-up from each group playing each other in a separate round. The remaining teams play each other to determine ninth through twelfth place. These lower rankings could be later used to determine eligibility for future tournaments.[8]
Qualification
All eight teams from the 2025 edition qualified directly for the expanded edition of the tournament. Then the winner and runner up from the 2025 EuroHockey Championship II qualified with those teams being Ireland and Wales. The winner and runner-up from the 2026 EuroHockey Championship Qualifier I will also qualify.
Qualified teams
| Dates | Event | Location | Quotas | Qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 July – 2 August 2025 | 2025 EuroHockey Championship II | Lousada, Portugal | 2 | Ireland Wales |
| 8–16 August 2025 | 2025 EuroHockey Championship | Mönchengladbach, Germany | 8 | Austria Belgium England France Germany Netherlands Poland Spain |
| 9–12 July 2026 | EuroHockey Championship Qualifier I[9] | Rome, Italy | 2 | |
| Total | 12 | |||
References
- ^ "England to host EuroHockey 2027 men and women". thehockeypaper.co.uk. The Hockey Paper. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
- ^ Min, Ramon (3 October 2024). "Organisatie van het EK 2027 in Engelse handen". hockey.nl (in Dutch). Hockey.nl. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
- ^ "Engeland gastland voor EK hockey van 2027". niewsblad.be (in Dutch). Niewsblad. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
- ^ "IOC approves LA28 Olympic hockey tournaments qualification system". 11 December 2025. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
- ^ "EuroHockey Championships to expand to 12-team knock-out format in 2027". eurohockey.org. European Hockey Federation. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
- ^ "EuroHockey revamps to knock-out format from 2027". thehockeypaper.co.uk. The Hockey Paper. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
- ^ Gilmour, Rod (19 August 2025). "Euro Hockey 2027 finals could be played at rugby ground". thehockeypaper.co.uk. The Hockey Paper. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
- ^ "EuroHockey confirms format for expanded 12-team Championship in 2027". eurohockey.org. EuroHockey. 25 November 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
- ^ "EuroHockey Championship Qualifiers 2026 venues announced". eurohockey.org. European Hockey Federation. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.