62,850 watch hockey at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium!!??
2026 Men’s Hockey World Cup… it could be MEGA.
For the 2026 Men’s Hockey World Cup, England Hockey and Hockey Wales are bidding to blast hockey into the stratosphere, to give hockey the unrivalled player and fan experience of one of the world’s greatest stadiums – the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
The MEGA bid features the semi-finals and the World Cup Final at the 62,850-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
As the home of Tottenham Hotspur FC, the stadium is used for Premier League, Champions League and is the home to the NFL in the UK.
This means if the bid is successful hockey stars like Christopher Rühr, Arthur Van Doren, Aran Zalewski, Manpreet Singh, Thierry Brinkman, Gonzalo Peillat, Marc Miralles, Zac Wallace and Rupert Shipperley… could follow in the footsteps of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Hugo Lloris.
The stadium also hosts other MEGA sporting events such as:
NFL (2019): Chicago Bears v Oakland Raiders (60,463)
NFL (2019) Tampa Bay Buccaneers v Carolina Panthers (60,087)
Boxing (2021): Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk (66,267)
Rugby League Challenge Cup Final (2022): Huddersfield Giants v Wigan Warriors (51,628)
Premiership Rugby (2022): Saracens v Bristol Bears (49,376)
With the England and Wales bid, hockey can join this list of MEGA sporting events.
Watch Richard Hammond explore the stadium host NFL:
Sam Lane is Backing the Bid…
George Enerson is Backing the Bid…
Tottenham Football Stadium
Hockey in… the best stadium in the world?
The stadium is truly magnificent.
For every hockey player and fan who has watched football, rugby, cricket etc at venues like the Johan Cruyff Arena, the Estadio Monumental, the MCG, the Cape Town Stadium and wondered… why not hockey?... well… wonder no longer.
“Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been described as the “combination of magnificence and intimacy”. It was named ‘the world’s best stadium’ in 2020 by TheStadiumBusiness.”
Tottenham Football Stadium
England Hockey team visit the Tottenham Football Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been described as the "combination of magnificence and intimacy". It was named ‘the world's best stadium’ in 2020 by TheStadiumBusiness.
The Oakland Raiders Quarterback Derek Carr said that it is "possibly the best I’ve played in".
For hockey fans, long-suffering with temporary seating, coffee carts and portable toilets, the stadium has a world-class match day experience, features include:
Single-tier South Stand alone has a capacity 17,500
Uninterrupted sight lines from every seat
60 food outlets
The longest bar in Europe (65m)
38,000 square-foot visitors centre
Space for 8,000 premium guests
Michelin star caliber dining
55 Premium Suites
The stadium even has its own in-house brewery which serves 23,000 pints per match. Hockey fans have a lot to look forward to!
Jamie Dwyer is Backing the Bid…
Stephen Davies is Backing the Bid…
The World Cup bid features Big & Mega Stadium Hockey
The bid realizes the full potential of the Big Stadium Hockey portable turf concept which was developed by England Hockey, Polytan, STRI and Polypipe, and first used in 2019 at The Stoop (12,000 fans) and Dublin (12,000 fans over two games).
Big Stadium Hockey allows hockey to break free from smaller hockey-specific venues. If successful, the 2026 Men’s Hockey World Cup will be played at 3 Big Stadiums and 1 MEGA Stadium. This will be a never-before-experience for players and a chance for hockey fans to showcase how magnificent hockey is.
The bid stadiums are:
Tottenham Football Stadium (capacity 62,850)
Twickenham Stoop, London (capacity 15,400), home of Harlequins FC Rugby
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens (capacity 15,195), home of Northampton Saints Rugby
Cardiff Arms Park, Wales (capacity 9,870), home of Cardiff Rugby
For comparison the Wagener Stadium, Amsterdam and the Warsteiner Hockeypark, Mönchengladbach seat 9,000, and the Kaligna Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India which hosts the 2023 Men’s World Cup final seats 16,000.
Hockey has been MEGA before
The England and Wales bid brings hockey back to the mass crowds it enjoyed on grass at places like Wembley Stadium. In the artificial turf era, perhaps hockey’s only MEGA event was the unforgettable 1990 Men’s World Cup in Lahore, played at the 45,000 seat National Hockey Stadium – an astonishing amphitheater of hockey.
This means it has been 32 years since hockey last went MEGA. It’s time to do it again!
Watch: Pakistan v Netherlands 1990 World Cup Final to experience what 45,000 fans at a hockey game is like.
Watch: ‘The Surface’ hockey documentary which tells hockey’s story, including games at Wembley Stadium and hockey’s Big Stadium Hockey future.
Back the bid
This is a once in a generation opportunity. Show your support for this thrilling opportunity for the sport you love.
Dane Lett is backing the Bid…
see who is also backing the bid…
Watch: A stadium tour
