FIH scraps quarter-finals as 2026 Hockey World Cup adopts two‑phase format
The International Hockey Federation has scrapped quarter-finals for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup, as men's and women's teams prepare to compete in the Netherlands and Belgium when the tournaments open on August 15, 2026.
The men's and women's editions will be held simultaneously for the first time since 1998; the women's bronze-medal match and final are scheduled for August 29 in the Netherlands, and the men's bronze and final will take place on August 30 in Belgium. The FIH announced the alteration to the tournament structure ahead of the dual-hosted events.
The competition now begins with a Pool Stage in which 16 teams in each event are divided into four groups — A, B, C and D — with every team playing the other three sides in its group once; those results determine positions one through four within each pool.
Phase one pool listings are published as follows: Pool A: Netherlands, Australia, Chile, Japan (playing in the Netherlands); Pool B: Argentina, Germany, USA, Scotland (playing in Belgium); Pool C: Belgium, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland (playing in Belgium); Pool D: China, England, India, South Africa (playing in the Netherlands). Pool allocations are also shown as: Pool A: Netherlands, Argentina, New Zealand, Japan (playing in the Netherlands); Pool B: Belgium, Germany, France, Malaysia (playing in Belgium); Pool C: Australia, Spain, Ireland, South Africa (playing in Belgium); Pool D: England, India, Pakistan, Wales (playing in the Netherlands).
After the opening phase teams are redistributed into four new pools — E, F, G and H — based on their finishing positions in Pools A–D. Pool E comprises teams finishing 1st and 2nd in Pools A and D, Pool F comprises teams finishing 1st and 2nd in Pools B and C, Pool G comprises teams finishing 3rd and 4th in Pools A and D, and Pool H comprises teams finishing 3rd and 4th in Pools B and C.
In Phase 2 each side will play three further matches against opponents they did not meet in Phase 1, with the result from any Phase-1 fixture between two teams that progress from the same original pool carried over into the second phase. Final placings in Pools E, F, G and H determine the remaining classification matches for positions five through 16.
Classification fixtures are allocated as follows: the teams finishing last in Pools G and H contest the 15th-16th playoff, third-place sides play for 13th-14th, second-place sides for 11th-12th and first-place sides for 9th-10th; the teams finishing fourth in Pools E and F meet for 7th-8th and the third-place sides in E and F play for 5th-6th.
The two highest-ranked teams from Pools E and F will secure places in the semi-finals, with the semi-final match-ups set as 1st in Pool E vs 2nd in Pool F and 1st in Pool F vs 2nd in Pool E; under the revised format, finishing in the top two of Pools E or F will therefore guarantee a route into the semi-finals.
