Argentina’s women ensured their passage through to the semi-finals of the FIH Hockey World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Spain on Saturday as the other teams in contention continued their battles to reach the final four.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for Spain after they went three goals down in the first quarter. The Argentinians earned a penalty stroke in the first 33 seconds of the game, which Agustina Gorzelany duly converted. And they had already doubled their lead within the first three minutes – this time off a Juana Castellaro penalty corner. It only got worse from there for the Spanish as Gorzelany converted Las Leonas’ second corner of the match as well to take a three-goal lead in the 14th minute. Spain managed to stem the flow of goals for the remainder of the game, led by the excellent efforts of Clara Perez in goal, but Argentina continued to dominate and easily wrapped up a convincing victory.
“We are very happy because now we are in semi-final, so we are happy for the result,” said Argentina’s Player of the Match Sofia Cairo. “I think it was the defence. It was all the team… so we need to continue going.”
There was also joy for the Argentinian men as Tomas Domene scored his second hat-trick of the tournament to lead his side to a crucial 3-1 win over England and throw the new Pool E wide open. The first of his goals came from a well-taken penalty corner in the 26th minute, before a superbly struck reverse-stick shot from the edge of the circle put his team two goals up 10 minutes later. England responded after the break, with Sam Hooper pulling one back from a penalty corner in the 50th minute to give his side hope of a comeback. But Argentina held firm and continued to threaten, with Domene completing his hat-trick from another penalty corner with two and a half minutes left to seal an impressive victory.
Earlier in the evening, the Netherlands men overcame a spirited India 3-1 in an entertaining clash. The first half ended goalless after plenty of end-to-end action. The deadlock was finally broken in the 41st minute when Duco Telgenkamp put the Dutch in front. Needing a win to keep their semi-final hopes alive, the Indians applied all the pressure in the final period, but the impressive Dutch defence was defiant. And the Netherlands made the most of their chances when they came, with Tjep Hoedemakers adding a spectacular one-touch finish to a counterattack to double his side’s lead in the 51st minute. With eight and a half minutes remaining, India finally found the back of the net thanks to a Harmanpreet rocket off a penalty corner. But there was to be no late comeback for the Indians as Thijs van Dam put the result beyond doubt with some stunning skill just three minutes later, lifting the ball over the keeper and into the net to wrap up the 3-1 win.
The Netherlands’ Player of the Match, Floris Wortelboer, said afterwards: “I think we did well. India is a tough team, but really I think in phases we played really well. Happy with the win and hopefully we can continue."
In the other women’s match, hosts Belgium produced a confident performance to beat Germany 3-1 and keep their semi-final hopes alive. The Belgians opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. A lovely pass from Judith Vandermeiren found an unmarked Delphine Marien, who picked up the ball and guided it around the keeper into goal for the 1-0 lead. Lisa Nolte then equalised for Germany from a penalty corner before the Belgians scored off one of their own not even two minutes later to regain the lead. They delighted the raucous home crowd by adding another in the 42nd minute when a shot from Charlotte Englebert rebounded off the keeper and straight back to her to fire it in on her second attempt. Germany took off their keeper to chase a result in the last four minutes of the match, but that made little difference as the Belgians secured the 3-1 win.
In the Classification Stage matches for the teams that will be ranked ninth to 16th, New Zealand’s men started slowly but took their game to another level in the second half to defeat Wales 7-2. The Black Sticks had to come from behind twice as Wales started well, with the teams level on 2-2 at half-time. But a far more clinical second half, which included James Hickson completing his hat-trick in the 56th minute, saw New Zealand complete the rout and keep their ambitions of a ninth-place finish alive.
Pakistan’s men came from 2-0 down to secure their first win of the tournament, beating Japan 4-3. The Japanese raced into an early lead with goals in the seventh and 15th minutes, but Pakistan came alive from the second quarter, scoring three goals in 11 minutes to lead 3-2. Koji Yamasaki levelled for Japan early in the second half, but Hannan Shahid restored Pakistan’s lead in the 41st minute. Japan then had a chance to force a draw from a penalty corner with just 36 seconds remaining but couldn’t convert.
Scotland’s women were thrilled to pull off a 2-1 win over a flat-looking Ireland. The Scots were never behind after taking the lead in the sixth minute from a penalty corner. Ireland did find an equaliser just before half-time, but Scotland quickly restored their lead in the 34th, with Charlotte Watson firing a stunner high into the net to hand her side the win.
In the other women’s match of the day, New Zealand and the USA played out a 1-1 draw after a game of seesawing momentum. The Kiwis took an early lead after a beautifully worked team goal, but, after creating more of the chances, the Americans hit back in the second half. Claire Danahy finished off a brilliant run to fire in a deserved equaliser. New Zealand then had a late opportunity to snatch the win, earning a penalty corner with just five seconds left on the clock, but they couldn’t make it count.
22 August 2026 Results
Women
Result: Match 29 (W)
Ireland 1 - 2 Scotland (Pool H)
Player of the match: Ellie Mackenzie (SCO)
Umpires: Hannah Harrison (ENG), Rachel Williams (ENG), Coen van Bunge (NED-video)
Result: Match 30 (W)
USA 1 - 1 New Zealand (Pool H)
Player of the match: Emily Surridge (NZL)
Umpires: Xiaoying Liu (CHN), Wanri Venter (RSA), Dan Barstow (ENG-video)
Result: Match 31 (W)
Germany 1 - 3 Belgium (Pool F)
Player of the match: Delphine Marien (BEL)
Umpires: Victoria Pazos (PAR), Sarah Wilson (SCO), David Tomlinson (NZL-video)
Result: Match 32 (W)
Argentina 3 - 0 Spain (Pool F)
Player of the match: Sofia Cairo (ARG)
Umpires: Aleisha Neumann (AUS), Kristy Robertson (AUS), Tyler Klenk (CAN-video)
Men
Result: Match 29 (M)
New Zealand 7 - 2 Wales (Pool G)
Player of the match: James Hickson (NZL)
Umpires: Darren Hubach (RSA), Zeke Newman (AUS), Alison Keogh (IRE-video)
Result: Match 30 (M)
Pakistan 4 - 3 Japan (Pool G)
Player of the match: Waheed Ashraf Rana (PAK)
Umpires: Rawi Anbananthan (MAS), Sean Edwards (ENG), Laurine Delforge (BEL-video)
Result: Match 31 (M)
Netherlands 3 – 1 India (Pool E)
Player of the match: Floris Wortelboer (NED)
Umpires: Ben Goentgen (GER), Sean Rapaport (RSA), Amber Church (NZL-video)
Result: Match 32 (M)
England 1 - 3 Argentina (Pool E)
Player of the match: Lucio Mendez (ARG)
Umpires: Steve Rogers (AUS), Jonas van’t Hek (NED), Ayanna McClean (TTO-video)
