Are you planning to be in Belgium and the Netherlands this August to attend the FIH Hockey World Cup in person and eager to find out where your favourite team will be playing? Or perhaps you are following the World Cup closely, awaiting the Qualifiers to determine the final teams to secure their place at the most prestigious FIH event, and wondering which teams will face each other in the group stage?

The wait is (almost) over! Answers to these questions will be revealed on 17 March at the draw ceremony, which will take place in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at the Wagener Stadium – one of the two competition venues, alongside the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre, Belgium.

Starting at 3 pm CET and live-streamed on Watch.Hockey, the draw will determine the four pools of four teams each (per gender) for the World Cup group stage.

The following nine teams have already qualified for the Women’s Hockey World Cup: Belgium and the Netherlands, as hosts of the event, gained direct qualification. Germany and Argentina qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League. The USA secured qualification through the Pan American Cup, Spain qualified via the EuroHockey Championship, New Zealand through the Oceania Cup, China through the Asia Cup, and South Africa via the Africa Cup of Nations.

On the men’s side, the current line-up is as follows: Belgium and the Netherlands gained direct qualification. Australia and Spain qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League. Argentina secured qualification through the Pan American Cup, Germany qualified via the EuroHockey Championship, New Zealand qualified through the Oceania Cup, India qualified through the Asia Cup, and South Africa qualified via the Africa Cup of Nations.

The remaining seven teams per gender will secure their place at the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers next month.

The FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium and Netherlands 2026 will be held in Amsterdam and Wavre from 15 to 30 August 2026.

In 2022, the Netherlands’ women secured their ninth title in 15 editions, further enhancing their impressive World Cup record. Meanwhile, the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 saw Germany’s men crowned champions for the third time.

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