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Navneet struck in the 29th, 34th, and 55th minutes of the game after Sakshi had put the women in blue ahead in the 7th minute at the GMC Balayogi Hockey Ground.
India women’s hockey team.
(PC: Hockey India/X)
The Indian Women’s Hockey Team secured their berth in the FIH World Cup following a 4-1 rout of Wales in the Pool B encounter at the WC Qualifiers in Hyderabad on Wednesday as Navneet Kaur netted thrice in addition to Sakshi Rana’s goal.
Navneet struck in the 29th, 34th, and 55th minutes of the game after Sakshi had put the women in blue ahead in the 7th minute at the GMC Balayogi Hockey Ground.
India had already secured a semi-final spot before the match, and the victory confirmed their position as table-toppers. Moreover, India’s win against Wales guaranteed their qualification for the Hockey World Cup.
How have India qualified already, even before the semis of the qualifiers?
The teams in Hyderabad are split into two pools: Pool A includes England, Korea, Italy, and Austria, while Pool B consists of hosts India, Scotland, Uruguay, and Wales. The winners of both semi-finals, along with the Bronze medal match victor, will automatically qualify for the World Cup. Additionally, the highest world-ranked team finishing fourth between the qualifiers in Hyderabad and Chile will also earn a spot in the tournament.
In the other tournament in Chile, Australia secured their place by defeating Ireland, and the hosts beat Japan in shootouts to qualify for the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026.
In Pool A, England, the highest-ranked team, maintained a perfect record by winning all three matches, while Italy edged out South Korea on goal difference to take second place. In Pool B, India finished top, ahead of Scotland, with both teams level on points but India having a better goal difference.
The two qualification tournaments, each comprising eight teams, offer seven World Cup spots, totalling 16 teams. With the Santiago event concluded, where Chile, Australia, and Ireland secured their spots, the Hyderabad event also has three automatic places available. The final qualifier would be the higher-ranked fourth-placed team across both events, based on World Rankings at the close of the last event. Japan, ranked 15th in the world, finished fourth in Chile. Therefore, even if India, ranked 9th, lose their next two matches, they mathematically cannot drop enough points to fall below Japan.
March 12, 2026, 10:17 IST
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