# 2012–13 Men's FIH Hockey World League

The 2012–13 Men's FIH Hockey World League was the inaugural season of the men's field hockey national team league series. The tournament started in August 2012 in Prague, Czech Republic and finished in January 2014 in New Delhi, India.
The semifinals of this competition also served as a qualifier for the 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup as the 6 highest-placed teams apart from the host nation and the five continental champions qualified.
The Netherlands won the tournament's Final round for the first time after defeating New Zealand 7–2 in the final. England won the third place match by defeating Australia 2–1.

## Qualification

Each national association member of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) had the opportunity to compete in the tournament, and after seeking entries to participate, 62 teams were announced to compete. However, for different reasons, the final count of participating teams was 54.
The 8 teams ranked between 1st and 8th in the FIH World Rankings current at early 2011 received an automatic bye to the Semifinals while the 8 teams ranked between 9th and 16th received an automatic bye to Round 2. Those sixteen teams, shown with qualifying rankings, were the following:
* Australia (1)
* Germany (2)
* Netherlands (3)
* England (4)
* Spain (5)
* South Korea (6)
* New Zealand (7)
* Pakistan (8)
* India (9)
* Canada (10)
* Argentina (11)
* South Africa (12)
* Belgium (13)
* China (14)
* Malaysia (15)
* Japan (16)

## Schedule
### Round 1

| Dates | Location | Teams | Round 2 Quotas | Round 2 Qualifier(s) |
| 17–19 August 2012 | Prague, Czech Republic | Belarus Czech Republic Poland Ukraine | 2 | Poland Ukraine |
| 31 August – 2 September 2012 | Singapore | Bangladesh Hong Kong Singapore Thailand | 1 | Bangladesh |
| 7–9 September 2012 | Accra, Ghana | Egypt Ghana Nigeria | 1 | Egypt |
| 7–9 September 2012 | Cardiff, Wales | Austria Ireland Sweden Wales | 2 | Ireland Austria |
| 25–30 September 2012 | Lousada, Portugal | Gibraltar Italy Morocco Portugal Scotland | 2 | Scotland Portugal |
| 14–17 November 2012 | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | Barbados Chile Trinidad and Tobago Venezuela | 2 | Trinidad and Tobago Chile |
| 16–18 November 2012 | Chula Vista, United States | Guatemala Mexico United States | 1 | United States |
| 27 November – 2 December 2012 | Doha, Qatar | Azerbaijan Oman — Sri Lanka Turkey | 1 | Azerbaijan |
| 8–15 December 2012 | Suva, Fiji | Fiji Papua New Guinea Vanuatu | 1 | Fiji |
    ^1 – Qatar´s results were officially deleted from the event due to an eligibility problem with some of its players.

### Round 2

| Dates | Location | Teams Qualified | Teams Qualified | Teams Qualified | Semifinals Quotas | Semifinals Qualifier(s) |
| Dates | Location | Host | By Ranking | From Round 1 | Semifinals Quotas | Semifinals Qualifier(s) |
| 18–24 February 2013 | New Delhi, India | India | China | Bangladesh Fiji Ireland Oman | 2 | India Ireland |
| 27 February – 5 March 2013 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Brazil | Argentina South Africa | Chile Trinidad and Tobago United States | 2 | Argentina South Africa |
| 6–12 May 2013 | Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France | France | Belgium Canada | Poland Portugal Scotland | 2 | Belgium France |
| 27 May – 2 June 2013 | Elektrostal, Russia | Russia | Japan | Austria Czech Republic Egypt Ukraine | 1 | Japan |
    ^2 – Azerbaijan withdrew from participating and Oman took their place.
    ^3 – Malaysia was chosen to host a Semifinal therefore exempt from Round 2, to which were qualified by ranking basis. The Czech Republic took their place.
    ^4 – As Malaysia was chosen to host a Semifinal, one less berth was available at that event. France (17th) qualified as the highest-ranked second-placed team between the Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Elektrostal Round 2 events, leaving Russia (20th) unable to qualify.

### Semifinals

| Dates | Location | Teams Qualified | Teams Qualified | Teams Qualified | Final Quotas | Final Qualifiers |
| Dates | Location | Host | By Ranking | From Round 2 | Final Quotas | Final Qualifiers |
| 13–23 June 2013 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Netherlands | Australia New Zealand Spain | Belgium France India Ireland | 4 | Belgium Australia Netherlands New Zealand |
| 29 June – 7 July 2013 | Johor Bahru, Malaysia | Malaysia | England Germany Pakistan South Korea | Argentina Japan South Africa | 3 | Germany Argentina England |

### Final

| Dates | Location | Teams Qualified | Teams Qualified |
| Dates | Location | Host | From Semifinals |
| 10–18 January 2014 | New Delhi, India | India | Argentina Australia Belgium England Germany Netherlands New Zealand |

## Final ranking

FIH issued a final ranking to determine the world ranking. The final ranking was as follows:
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* England
* Australia
* Belgium
* India
* Germany
* Argentina
* South Korea
* Spain
* Malaysia
* Japan
* Pakistan
* Ireland
* South Africa
* France
* Russia
* Canada
* Bangladesh
* Chile
* Ukraine
* Austria
* China
* Scotland
* Egypt
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Poland
* United States
* Oman
* Czech Republic
* Brazil
* Fiji
* Portugal