A total of five nations have formally placed their bids to the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the rights to host the 2018 Hockey World Cup. Australia, New Zealand, India, England and Malaysia are all officially in the running after their respective national associations submitted their official bid questionnaires before the Aug 31 deadline.

Specifically, four proposals were for the hosting of the men’s World Cup and three others for the women’s World Cup, the world body announced late Tuesday.

"The FIH is thrilled to have received such an excellent response from National Associations regarding the great opportunity to host Hockey World Cup events in 2018," said FIH Chief Executive Officer Kelly Fairweather.

"The quality and competitiveness of every single bid is impressive, demonstrating that the decision to allocate events earlier and across the entire four-year cycle was absolutely the right move for hockey. All of the bids show a determination and desire to deliver the most entertaining, exciting and inspiring hockey events in the world, which is in line with our strategy to take hockey to the next level. With such strong competition between the bidding nations, it is clear that the choice will not be an easy one to make."

The FIH will now evaluate the details of each bid and clarifications and discussions with the interested national associations and of course the all-important site visits to each country.

The FIH Executive Board in Lausanne, Switzerland, will release the final decision and winning bid on Nov 7, 2013.

The last 3 Hockey World Cups happened in New Delhi, India (2010), Mönchengladbach, Germany (2006) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2002).

Germany won the 2002 and 2006 editions but lost the title to Australia in 2010. The next World Cup will happen in The Hague, Netherlands in 2014.

Twelve men’s and women’s national teams will participate in the 2014 Hockey World Cup, and the field will be increased to 16 nations in time for the World Cup in 2018.