India Eye FIH Qualifiers Title After Securing 2026 Women's Hockey World Cup Berth

India finished on top of Pool B with seven points from three matches and a superior goal difference over Scotland also collected seven points to finish second in the group. The hosts registered two wins and one draw in the pool stage.

India began their campaign with a dominant 4-0 win against Uruguay. In their second match, they played out a closely fought 2-2 draw against Scotland before concluding the group stage with a convincing 4-1 victory over Wales.

With the resounding performances in the pool stage, India confirmed their qualification for the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 through the tournament rule which awards a World Cup berth to the highest world-ranked team finishing fourth across the two qualifying events.

The Santiago leg of the qualifiers concluded earlier, where Chile, Australia and Ireland secured the three direct qualification spots. Japan finished fourth in Santiago and are currently ranked No. 15 in the world.

With India ranked ninth globally, the hosts have at least ensured they will finish as the highest-ranked fourth-placed team across the two tournaments, thereby confirming their ticket to the World Cup.

Having achieved one of their primary objectives, India will now look to maintain their momentum and push for the place in the final when they take on Italy, who finished second in Pool A with four points after registering one win, one draw and one loss, giving the hosts a slight psychological edge ahead of the semi-final.

India will also look to build on the impressive form of forward Navneet Kaur, who is currently the joint top scorer of the tournament with four goals. She produced a standout performance in the final pool match against Wales, scoring a brilliant hat-trick to cap off the group stage in style.

Italy, meanwhile, will rely on Federica Carta, who has been their key attacking threat and has scored three goals so far in the competition.

In terms of head-to-head encounters, India and Italy have faced each other seven times since 2012. India have won five of those matches, while Italy have registered one victory and one game ended in a draw, giving the hosts a slight psychological edge ahead of the semi-final.

Speaking ahead of the semi-final, the Indian team chief coach Sjoerd Marijne said, "Securing qualification for the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup 2026 is an important milestone for this group, and the players deserve a lot of credit for the way they have performed so far in the tournament. They have shown good discipline, composure and attacking intent throughout the pool stage."

"At the same time, our mindset is very clear - we are not here just to qualify. We want to keep improving with every match and aim to win the tournament. The semi-final is another big challenge and we will approach it with full focus and intensity."

"Italy are a competitive side and they have shown in this tournament that they can trouble strong teams. For us, the focus will be on executing our plans well, maintaining our structure, and continuing to play with the same energy and confidence."

- IANS