FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2026 Guide: Teams, Fixtures, Venues & History | Hockey News

Last Updated:August 14, 2026, 06:59 IST

FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2026 starts August 15. Netherlands defends title, Belgium seeks maiden crown. Get dates, venues, teams, and full schedule.

India win FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup (FIH)

The 16th edition of the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup is all set to start on Saturday, August 15, with the Netherlands looking to defend their title and win a record-extending 10th title.

The FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup stands alongside the Olympics as the sport’s ultimate prize, a stage where legends are born and legacies forged. Reigning champions Netherlands enter the tournament seeking to defend the title they won in Terrassa in 2022, while co-hosts Belgium will aim to claim their maiden World Cup crown on home soil.

Argentina, Australia, Germany and Canada are among the teams whose names are woven into the history of this competition. Netherlands are the most successful women’s FIH Hockey World Cup team, with nine titles, while Argentina, Australia and Germany have each lifted the trophy twice.

Here is all you need to know:

The dates:

The FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2026 will start on Saturday, August 15, with Australia taking on Japan in the opening game. The tournament will culminate in the final on Saturday, August 29.

The venues:

The games will be played across two venues:

Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre: The purpose-built venue has hosted multiple top-level competitions in the past. Its capacity was expanded from 4,000 to 10,000 ahead of the FIH Hockey World Cups.

The venue served as a football stadium until 2021, before being converted into a hockey facility.

Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen: The venue, named after former Hockey Club Amsterdam chairman Joop Wagener, is a historic stadium built in 1938. It has hosted multiple major hockey events, including the 1973 FIH Hockey World Cup, the 2022 FIH Women’s World Cup and the Champions Trophy.

Its capacity was increased from 8,000 to 10,000 ahead of the 2026 FIH World Cup.

The teams:

The women’s event features 16 teams from around the world. They have been divided into four pools of four each.

Pool A: Netherlands, Australia, Chile, Japan

Pool B: Argentina, Germany, United States, Scotland

Pool C: Belgium, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland

Pool D: China, England, India, South Africa

The Format:

Pool Stage:

The teams have been divided into four pools, A, B, C and D, with four teams in each. Every team will play the other three teams in its pool once, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the next stage.

Second stage:

The top two teams from Pools A and D will progress to Pool E, while the top two from Pools B and C will make up Pool F. Each team will play two games in this stage.

Teams that met in the same pool during the opening stage will not face each other again in the second stage. But the result from their earlier meeting will carry forward and count towards the final standings in the new pool.

The top two teams from each pool will advance to the semi-finals.

The Pool E games will be held in the Netherlands while Pool F matches will be played in Belgium.

FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup Full List Of Past Winners

Take a look at the fixtures:

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