Tuesday, January 27 – Dublin: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) have officially confirmed that the Ireland Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams will travel to Santiago, Chile this March as both teams fight for qualification for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup taking place in the Netherlands and Belgium.

 

The eight-team qualification tournaments will consist of two pools of four with the top two sides in each pool advancing to the Semi-Finals. Both eventual finalists will be awarded a qualification place, with the third spot given to the winner of the 3^rd/4^th Place Play-Off match.

The IRL Women will hope they can secure their third successive FIH Hockey World Cup appearance, while the Men will look to end their eight-year wait to return to the prestigious World Cup stage.

The IRL Women have been drawn in Pool B and will begin their bid for qualification with a matchup against Malaysia (#22) on Monday, March 2^nd at 18:15 Irish Time. The sides haven’t met since 2019, where Ireland beat Malaysia 2-1 in Banbridge during their FIH Women’s Series campaign. Japan (#11) will be the IRL Women’s second game, taking place the following day at 18:45 Irish Time, and will likely be the side’s biggest test given they are the top ranked team in their pool. Ireland will complete their Pool Stage campaign with a matchup against Canada (#21) on Thursday, March 5 at 18:15 Irish Time, with the sides meeting for the first time since Ireland’s historic penalty shootout win in Dublin in 2019 that secured a first ever Olympic place for the Women’s squad.

The team could face Australia (#6), Chile (#15), France (#17), or Switzerland (#40) in the Semi-Finals should they advance.

The IRL Men have also been drawn in Pool B and will begin their qualification bid against Canada (#19) on Sunday, March 1 at 15:00 Irish Time, in their first meeting since Canada denied Ireland a place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2019. The team will then face Korea (#16) on Tuesday, March 3 at 14:15 Irish Time, whom Ireland beat in 2024 to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games, before ending their campaign with a meeting with Poland (#24) on Wednesday, March 4 at 12:00 Irish Time, as the team look to avenge their shootout loss to in the EuroHockey Championship Qualifiers in Dublin in 2024.

The team could come up against France (#9), Wales (#15), Scotland (#20), or Chile (#22) should they manage to do so.

 

 

FIH Hockey World Cup – Fixtures

Mar 1 – 15:00 Irish Time – IRELAND MEN vs Canada

Mar 2 – 18:15 Irish Time – IRELAND WOMEN vs Malaysia

Mar 3 – 14:15 Irish Time – Korea vs IRELAND MEN

Mar 3 – 18:45 Irish Time – IRELAND WOMEN – Japan

Mar 4 – 12:00 Irish Time – IRELAND MEN vs Poland

Mar 5 – 18:15 Irish Time – Canada vs IRELAND WOMEN

Mar 6 – 8 – Crossover Matches (SF, F, & Ranking Matches)