The Kabbadi World Cup 2025 is underway as the world’s best make history with the tournament taking place in the UK for the first time.

Kabbadi is a sport that is widely played in India and Pakistan, while it is the national sport of Bangladesh and features as part of the Asian Games.

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The maiden World Cup for the sport, led by World Kabaddi, was held in Malaysia in 2019, with India coming out on top in both the men’s and women’s events.

Now, 16 men’s teams and eight women’s teams, including England, Scotland and Wales, are going for glory as it takes place in the West Midlands.

What is Kabaddi?

As mentioned, Kabaddi is played regularly in India and Pakistan while also being the national sport of Bangladesh.

The sport is played on a 13m x 10m court with two teams of seven taking one each other during a game that consists of two 20-minute halves.

The objective of each game is for players to take turns running into the opposing team’s half of the court and tag (with any part of their body) as many of them as possible without being tackled.

That person is known as a ‘raider’, and they have to do so in one single breath while continuously chanting ‘Kabaddi, Kabaddi’ until they get back into their own half or get tackled.

A point is awarded to the attacking team if a raider tags an opponent and returns to their half of the court without being tackled, with a point given per player touched.

The defending team’s objective is to stop the raider by tackling them to the ground or pushing them off the court, with a point awarded to them if they tackle successfully.

Any defender successfully tagged by their opponent has to leave the game, but they can come back in should their team win a point offensively or defensively in their following turns.

Teams will take turns attacking and defending, with the team that picks up the most points over the duration winning.

AFP

Kabaddi World Cup 2025: Dates and how to follow

The Kabaddi World Cup began on Monday, March 17 and will run all week until the finals take place on Sunday, March 23. 

It is being held across four cities in the West Midlands – Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Walsall. 

There will be action on each day of the tournament, with game start times varying from 9am until 6pm.

The women’s final takes place on Sunday, March 23 at 1:45pm while the men’s final follows at 3:30pm on the same day. 

You can follow all of the action live for FREE on talkSPORT’s YouTube channel HERE.

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Kabaddi World Cup 2025: Schedule

Group stage

Monday, March 17 (Wolverhampton)

• 11am – England 101-25 Hungary (men)
• 12pm – India 64-22 Italy (men)
• 1pm – Poland 44-58 Wales (women)
• 3pm – Hong Kong 73-20 Hungary (women)
• 4pm – Poland vs Germany (men)
• 5pm – Scotland 63-43 Wales (men)
• 6pm – USA 87-35 Hungary (men)

Tuesday, March 18 (Wolverhampton)

• 10am – Italy 32-71 Wales (men)
• 11am – Germany vs USA (men)
• 12pm – India vs Wales (women)
• 3pm – England vs Hungary (women)
• 4pm – Poland vs Hungary (men)
• 5pm – India vs Scotland (men)
• 6pm – Hong Kong vs Wales (men)

Wednesday, March 19 (Coventry)

• 9am – Wales vs Poland (women)
• 10am – Hungary vs Germany (men)
• 11am – England vs Hong Kong (women)
• 1pm – England vs USA (men)
• 2pm – Scotland vs Italy (men)
• 3pm – India vs Hong Kong (men)

Thursday, March 20 (Birmingham)

• 10am – England vs Germany (men)
• 11am – USA vs Poland (men)
• 12pm – Hong Kong vs Scotland (men)
• 3pm – India vs Wales (men)
• 4pm – England vs Poland (men)
• 5pm – Hong Kong vs Italy (men)

Quarter-finals/Semi-finals/Final

Friday, March 21 (Walsall)

• 9.30am – Women’s semi-final 1
• 11.15pm – Women’s semi-final 2
• 12.30pm – Men’s quarter-final 1
• 2.15pm – Men’s quarter-final 2
• 3.30pm – Men’s quarter-final 3
• 4.45pm – Men’s quarter-final 4

Saturday, March 22 (Wolverhampton)

• 12pm – Women’s Third-place game
• 1.15pm – Men’s semi-final 1
• 2.30pm – Men’s semi-final 2

Sunday, March 23 (Wolverhampton)

• 12pm – Men’s third-place game
• 1.45pm – Women’s final
• 3.30pm – Men’s final