New Delhi: India will begin their campaign in the 2026 FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay on March 8, as the country hosts one of the two qualification tournaments in Hyderabad. Placed in Pool B, the Indian women’s team will look to make a strong start on home turf as they chase a spot in the global showpiece scheduled later this year.
Following their opening clash against Uruguay, India will face Scotland on March 9 before concluding their pool stage fixtures against Wales on March 11. Pool B also features strong sides such as England, Korea, Italy and Austria, making the group stage highly competitive. The semifinals of the Hyderabad qualifiers are slated for March 13, while the third place playoff and final will be played on March 14.
Parallel to the Hyderabad event, another qualifying tournament will be held in Santiago, Chile, from February 28 to March 8. That competition will see teams including Australia, Japan, Ireland, hosts Chile, France, Canada, Malaysia and Switzerland battling for qualification.
At stake across the two tournaments are seven coveted berths for the 2026 FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands in August. The top three teams from each qualifier will earn direct qualification. In addition, the highest ranked fourth placed team from either Hyderabad or Santiago will also book a place in the World Cup. These seven teams will join the nine nations that have already secured qualification.
India’s presence in the qualifiers follows a narrow miss at the 2025 Asia Cup, where the team lost the final to China. That defeat denied India automatic qualification, while China progressed directly to the World Cup by lifting the continental title.
Meanwhile, the men’s qualification pathway is also underway at two venues. Teams including France, Ireland, Korea, Wales, Scotland, Canada, Poland and Chile are competing in Santiago, while England, Malaysia, Pakistan, Egypt, Japan, Austria, China and the USA are contesting the qualifiers in Ismailia, Egypt.
The Indian men’s team, however, has already sealed its place at the 2026 FIH World Cup after winning the 2025 Asia Cup in Rajgir, Bihar, allowing the focus to now shift firmly to the women’s side and their road to glory in Hyderabad.
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