Australia, England, India, Malaysia and New Zealand have submitted official bids to host the 2018 Hockey World Cups, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) revealed on Tuesday.

The sport's world governing body said it has received seven "exceptional bids" - four for the men's event and three for women's - for the showpiece tournaments, which will feature increased 16-team fields.

Belgium was the only shortlisted nation not to submit a formal bid to the FIH by the August 31 deadline.

"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 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."

The FIH will carry out an evaluation of each bid and visit the proposed sites for the tournaments, before electing the host at the FIH Executive Board meeting in Lausanne on November 7 this year.

The next men's and women's Hockey World Cups are being held simultaneously at the Kyocera Stadion in The Hague, Netherlands, in June next year.