USA Are Coming to Ipoh: USMNT Name 18 for Their First-Ever Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
The Americans are headed to one of hockey’s classic tournaments for the first time. USA Field Hockey has named the 18-athlete squad that will travel to Ipoh, Malaysia for the 2026 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, running 20–28 November at the Stadium Hockey Azlan Shah.
Head coach Allan Law confirmed the group this week, and the selection has a clear purpose: a busy summer gave the wider squad exposure to high-level international hockey, and now the staff want the group back together for a proper test.
“The staff are excited to announce the squad for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup,” Law said. “This is another valuable opportunity to compete against quality international opposition at a prestigious tournament. Following a busy summer, where we provided athletes with exposure to high-level international hockey and continued to develop the squad as a whole, we’re looking forward to coming back together as a group.”
The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup started in 1983 as a biennial contest and has been an annual fixture since 1998. This will be the first edition the US men have ever competed in.
Law isn’t dressing up what awaits. “With the tournament limited to just 18 athletes, the demanding match schedule and challenging climate in Malaysia will provide a valuable opportunity to pressure test the squad,” he said. “It will be a strong test of our physical conditioning, robustness and ability to compete against higher ranked opponents.”
The field in Ipoh is a serious one: Australia, Canada, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan and the United States. That’s five teams ranked well above the Americans, on a continent where the climate alone is an opponent.
Our take
Good on USA Field Hockey for taking this on. There’s a temptation for developing programmes to pick soft fixtures and pad the win column; Ipoh in November is the opposite of that. Eighteen players, a packed schedule, heat and humidity, and five higher-ranked sides. They’ll learn more about themselves in nine days than in a year of friendlies. For our money, anything above last place with a couple of genuinely competitive showings is a result worth building on.
The Ipoh picture: the TMS-verified Azlan Shah field, Japan’s ACT squad, the PHF board meetings on 31 October, and the FIH rankings.
