Could England still lift a World Cup this summer? Absolutely, insists my son Felix, 14. Not only are we ranked in the top four just like in the football, but the matches aren’t fixed.Also, he adds, as it’s being played in Europe, maybe we could actually go.Buoyed by the thought of a cross-Channel bargain, we’re soon booking Eurostar tickets and heading for the land of Van Gogh for a brush with immortality of a different kind: The Hockey World Cup, currently being battled out in Amsterdam and Belgium until the end of this month.I’m already carried away by the cost of tickets. A day’s play – four top-flight international matches – for under €40, and I’m cheering on anyone with a stick.Felix lights up at the sight of his heroes walking on to the pitch to the National Anthem.‘We invented the sport, Mum, but we’ve never won the World Cup,’ he shouts over the roar of England fans when we beat rivals India 4-2. ‘It’s coming home.’Twelve years on from our last visit, we agree over post-match beers and bitterballen that Amsterdam is enhanced without a toddler in tow. The Daily Mail’s Fiona Hardcastle and her 14-year-old son, Felix, head to Amsterdam to watch England compete in the 2026 Hockey World Cup, currently being battled out across The Netherlands and Belgium Twelve years on from their last visit, Fiona and family are charmed by the Dutch city, which, they decide ‘is enhanced without a toddler in tow’ England beat rivals India 4-2 in the group stages of the Hockey World Cup, played in Amsterdam’s Wagener StadiumFrom canal-side quaffing to crossing a road, the twin perils of bottomless water and a blizzard of bikes are now a more manageable risk. Throw in an exceptional boutique hotel with ample adjoining family rooms three minutes’ walk from Central Station. Our base, the Kimpton De Witt hotel, offers free bikes and encourages guests to live like locals. So we do, wetting our whistles at its ‘Social Hour’ over free wine before exploring.The quaint bridges of Brouwersgracht, once voted Amsterdam’s most beautiful street and lit up like a lantern on our first evening amble, are five minutes’ walk west (ten minutes the other way will get you to the city’s more infamous red illuminations). Picking our way past the magic mushroom shops – and keeping Felix’s Q&A short and strict – we find ourselves in the elegant heart of the city, strolling its grand 17th-century canals and gazing at glorious gables.My husband gestures to a couple admiring the view from their houseboat, wine chilling by their feet. ‘Shouldn’t we be doing that?’ he asks.We have a date with a man who knew a good time: Volkert Jansz, a 17th-century craftsman immortalised by Rembrandt, whose love of finer things in life lives on at one of the city’s nicest restaurants, Jansz (janszamsterdam.com).Lemony halibut in lobster bisque, roasted leek with lime, tenderloin with smoked paprika jus, and its trademark pud: The Jansz cheesecake, served with apricot sorbet and basil.We walk it off wandering past boutiques now closed for the day. ‘We can come back for that tulip-shaped handbag,’ my son consoles me. Maybe if England go on to lift that trophy, I will.