The Indian men and women's hockey teams have tough opening matches in the World Cup later this year.

The men's team meets hosts and strong contenders for the title Germany [ Images ] in their first outing of the World Cup, to be played from September 6 to 17 at Monchengladbach.

However, have some relief as they will take on a relatively less challenging England [ Images ], South Africa [ Images ] and Korea before locking horns with world No. 2 the Netherlands in their last league tie.

In the women's World Cup, to be played at Madrid, Spain, from September 27 to October 8, the India [ Images ] runs into favourites the Netherlands in their very first outing.

The women have a more difficult schedule in the round-robin stages as they play Olympic [ Images ] champions Germany, England, Spain and China.

The schedule

Men's World Cup:

Sept 6: Germany v India, Argentina v New Zealand [ Images ], Korea v Netherlands

Sept 7: India v England, Pakistan v Japan [ Images ], Australia [ Images ] v Spain, Netherlands v South Africa

Sept 8: New Zealand v Pakistan, England v Korea, Spain v Argentina

Sept 9: South Africa v India, Germany v Netherlands, Japan v New Zealand, Argentina v Australia

Sept 10: Pakistan v Spain, England v Germany, Korea v South Africa, Australia v Japan

Sept 11: Spain v New Zealand, India v Korea, Argentina v Pakistan, Netherlands v England

Sept 12: New Zealand v Australia, Japan v Argentina, Germany v South Africa, India v Netherlands

Sept 13: Japan v Spain, Korea v Germany, South Africa v England, Australia v Pakistan

Sept 14: Rest Day

Final/Classification Matches:

Sept 15: (For 5th to 8th places) 3rd Pool A v 4th Pool B, 3rd Pool B v. 4th Pool A, (for 1st to 4th places) 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B, 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A

Sept 16: (for 9th to 12th places) 5th Pool A v 6th Pool B, 5th Pool B v. 6th Pool A, (for 7th and 8th places) Loser of 1st match on Sept 15 v Loser of 2nd match on Sept 15, (for 5th and 6th places) Winner of 1st match on Sept 15 v Winner of 2nd match on Sept 15.

Sept 17: (for 11th and 12th places) Loser of 1st match on Sept 16 v Loser of 2nd match on Sept 16, (for 9th and 10th); Winner of 1st match on Sept 16 v Winner of 2nd match on Sept 16, (for 3rd and 4th places); Loser of 3rd match on Sept 15 v Loser of 4th match on Sept 15, (for 1st and 2nd places); Winner of 3rd match on Sept 15 v Winner of 4th match on Sept 15.

Women's World Cup:

Sept 27:  Netherlands v India, Korea v Japan, Australia v South Africa, China v England, Spain v Germany, Argentina v USA.

Sept 28: Korea v South Africa, Australia v USA, Argentina v Japan

Sept 29: England v Netherlands, China v Spain, India v Germany

Sept 30: Korea v Australia, USA v Japan, South Africa v Argentina

Oct 1: Netherlands v Spain, India v England, Germany v China

Oct 2: Japan v Australia, South Africa v USA, Argentina v Korea

Oct 3: England v Germany, China v Netherlands, Spain v India

Oct 4: Netherlands v Germany, South Africa v Japan, India v China, Korea v USA, Spain v England, Australia v Argentina

Oct 5: Rest Day.

Final/Classification Matches:

Oct 6: (for 5th to 8th places) 3rd Pool A v 4th Pool B, (for 9th to 12th places) 5th Pool A v 6th Pool B, (for 5th to 8th places) 3rd Pool B v 4th Pool A, (for 9th to 12th places) 5th Pool B v 6th Pool A (for 1st to 4th places) 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B, 1st Pool B v. 2nd Pool A.

Oct 7: Winner of 1st match on Oct 6 v Winner of 3rd match on Oct 6, (for 11th and 12th places) Loser of 2nd match on Oct 6 v Loser of 4th match on Oct 6, (for 9th to 10th places) Winner of 2nd match on Oct 6 v Winner of 4th match on Oct 6.

Oct 8: (for 7th and 8th places) Loser of 1st match on Oct 6 v Loser of 3rd match on Oct 6, (for 3rd and 4th places), Loser of fifth match on Oct 6 v. Loser of sixth match Oct 6, (for 1st and 2nd places) : Winner of 5th match on Oct 6 v Winner of 6th match on Oct 6.