Hockey: Hyderabad to host 2026 FIH Women's World Cup qualifiers in March

Hyderabad will host the 2026 Women's Hockey World Cup qualifiers in March next year, the FIH announced on Thursday.

The qualifiers, which represent the final stage of the 2026 FIH Women's Hockey World Cup, will be held from 8 to 14 March in Hyderabad.

Hosts India will feature in the tournament in a last ditch attempt to qualify for the global tournament. They'll be joined by England, Scotland, Korea, Italy, Uruguay, Wales, and Austria.

The City of Santiago, Chile will host the other half of the qualifiers between 28 February to 8 March, 2026. Australia, Japan, Ireland, Chile, France, Canada, Malaysia, and Switzerland will compete there.

Top three teams each from the tournament in Hyderabad and Santiago will qualify for the 2026 FIH Women's World Cup along with the highest world ranked fourth-placed team, making it a total of seven.

The Indian women's hockey team recently received a massive blow with head coach Harendra Singh stepping down from the position citing personal reasons. Multiple reports suggested a rift in the dressing room with a majority of the players unwilling to play under Singh, shooting letters to administrators.

The last time India hosted a qualifying event of such scale in hockey, the Indian women's team failed to make it to the 2024 Paris Olympics in Ranchi.

The 2026 FIH Women's World Cup is slated to be held in Belgium and Netherlands in August.