Organisers of the tournament in the Indian city urged fans to snap up tickets as early as possible after they officially launched the sales process for the event.

They have limited purchases to two tickets per person for each match day in response to the expected high demand.

Seats for semi-finals, the final and the Opening Ceremony are due to be released soon.

Prices range from Rs100 (£1/$1.49/€1.27) to Rs250 (£2.79/$3.71/€3.19) for tickets for the opening batch of matches.

Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of the Government of Odisha, received the first ticket for the event at the launch.

"I am glad to announce the launch of the online ticket sales for the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018," said Patnaik.

"I am delighted to have received the first ticket. 

"May the hockey fever of the people of Odisha spread to the world. 

"We look forward to hosting fans and visitors from all over. 

"We hope all our guests will enjoy world class hockey action and the great treasures that Odisha has to offer. 

"Come enjoy the thrilling matches and soak in the warmth of our hospitality."

Action will take place between November 28 and December 16 at the Kalinga Stadium with 16 teams competing in all.

India, the Asian champions, are in Pool C with South Africa, Olympic silver medallists Belgium and Canada, who will meet in the opening game of the tournament before the hosts round off day one with their South Africa clash.

Defending champions Australia have been placed in Pool B alongside England, Ireland and China.

Reigning Olympic gold medallists Argentina will contest Pool A and face matches against Spain, New Zealand and France.

Pool D features Olympic bronze medallists Germany, 2014 World Cup runners-up The Netherlands, the European champions, as well as Malaysia and Pakistan. 

Tickets can be bought on the Ticket Genie website here.