Hockey World Cup: Who are the top goal scorers at every men’s WC since 1971

As the build-up for the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29, continues, here is the list of the top scorers at the previous 14 editions and some interesting trivia related to the same.

• ⦿ Pakistan’s Tanvir Ahmad Dar (eight goals) was the top scorer at the first men’s hockey world cup held in 1971 in Barcelona, Spain

• ⦿ The first time a player scored 10 or more goals at a single edition was in 1978 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Dutchman Paul Litjens topped the chart with 15 goals. Since then, the achievement has been matched by eight other players. However, Litjens’ tally still remains the highest-ever by a player at a single edition.

• ⦿ The first time two players finished the tournament as joint top scorers was in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where Pakistan’s Manzoorul Hassan and Poland’s Stefan Otulakowski both had seven goals.

• ⦿ Dutchman Taeke Taekema is the only player to have finished as the top scorer at two editions. Taekema scored 11 goals at the 2006 edition in Mönchengladbach, Germany and four years later, he was the joint top scorer along with Australia’s Luke Doerner with eight goals.

• ⦿ Out of the 14 editions, only on five occasions was the top scorer from the World Cup-winning side. And surprisingly, Litjens is not one of them as the Netherlands lost the 1978 final 2-3 to Pakistan.