The first group stage of the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2026 came to an end on Thursday with all 16 teams completing their three matches. This first phase of the tournament saw the top two teams from each group advance to the second round to fight for a place in the semifinals.
As per the new format, these eight teams have been divided into two groups of four. At the end of the round-robin stage — the teams from the same first group-stage pool will not face each other — the top two teams will advance to the last four stage.
Here’s a look at the pools where potential semifinalists will fight it out for a spot in the top four:
Pool E
| Team | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored | Goals against | Goal difference | Points |
| Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| China | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| India | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 |
Pool F
| Team | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored | Goals against | Goal difference | Points |
| Argentina | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Belgium | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
The classification breakdown
While the above eight teams will vie for the spots in the semifinals of the World Cup, there are two more groups which have been formed to decide the classification berths.
The third and fourth-placed teams from the groups in the first phase of competition have been sorted into two groups of four. The ranking in these groups will decide which teams will face each other in the nine to 16 classification matches.
Here’s how these two pools look like ahead of the second round fixtures:
Pool G
| Team | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored | Goals against | Goal difference | Points |
| England | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Chile | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
| South Africa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
Pool H
| Team | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored | Goals against | Goal difference | Points |
| United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
| Scotland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
Published on Aug 21, 2026
