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3 min readUpdated: Mar 11, 2026 11:37 PM IST
India players celebrate during the World Cup qualifiers win against Wales. Credit: Hockey India
India secured a dominant 4-1 victory against Wales in a Pool B clash at the women’s hockey World Cup Qualifiers in Hyderabad on Wednesday with Navneet Kaur scoring a hat-trick and Sakshi Rana impressing again, netting the opening goal. Navneet (29′, 34′, 55′) led the attack while Sakshi (7′)’s scored a superb early strike at the GMC Balayogi Hockey Ground. While India had secured a semi-final berth ahead of the fixture, the result ensured they finished as table-toppers. But, even further, India’s win against Wales ensured India have qualified for the Hockey World Cup. Here’s a quick explainer.
What is the format for the Hockey World Cup Qualifiers?
The teams in Hyderabad are divided into two pools, with England, Korea, Italy, and Austria in Pool A, while hosts India, Scotland, Uruguay, and Wales form Pool B. The winners of both semifinals — and the Bronze medal match — will secure automatic qualification for the World Cup. Additionally, the highest world-ranked team finishing fourth between the qualifiers in Hyderabad and Chile – will also earn a place at the tournament.
Over in the other tournament in Chile, Australia got the job done over Ireland, while the hosts defeated Japan in shootouts, to lock down FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 qualification.
1st step has been made, we are unofficially qualified for the World Cup this year.
Next focus is the semifinal against Italy. @sports_odisha @TheHockeyIndia @FIH_Hockey pic.twitter.com/Y1uu5Yndxi
— Sjoerd Marijne (@SjoerdMarijne) March 11, 2026
What are the final standings at the Hockey World Cup Qualifiers?
In Pool A, England – the highest-ranked team at the event – kept up a perfect record to win three out of three, while Italy pipped South Korea on goal difference to take the second spot. In GroupB, India finished top ahead of Scotland, with both teams level on points but the hosts enjoying a better goal difference.
How have India qualified already before the semifinals?
There are seven spots earmarked for the World Cup from two qualification tournaments consisting of eight teams each (16 teams in total). With the event in Santiago already over, where the hosts Chile, Australia and Ireland punched their tickets. The event in Hyderabad also has three automatic spots available, so the final qualifier would have beeb the higher-ranked team that finished fourth across the two events, as per World Rankings on the midnight of the last event. Japan – world No 15 – were the team which finished fourth in Chile, so even if India – world No 9 – lose their next two matches, they’d mathematically not drop enough points to slip below Japan.
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