Hyderabad, March 5 – The Austrian women's hockey team arrived in Hyderabad ahead of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers in Hyderabad, Telangana. The tournament will see eight nations competing for three crucial qualification spots for the prestigious event in Belgium and the Netherlands later this year.
Austria has a rich history at the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup, having participated in three of the first four editions of the competition. However, they haven't qualified for the premier event since 1981.
Led by Johanna Czech, Austria will compete against England, Italy, and Korea in Pool A, as they aim to make history and secure a qualification spot for the first time in 45 years.
Commenting on the upcoming competition, the captain stated, "This is the first time for all of us in India. We are excited, and we want to play really good hockey. Our preparation for the tournament was short – we only had one training session – but we will give our best. We will have some training sessions here before our matches, and we will leave everything on the field."
Earlier, on Thursday, the Italian women's national hockey team arrived in Hyderabad.
Scheduled from March 8 to 14, eight nations will compete for three crucial berths for the highly anticipated tournament in Belgium and the Netherlands later this year in August.
Italy has been placed in Pool A, where they will face England, Korea, and Austria. The European side has previously qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup twice, first in 1976 and most recently in 2018, where they achieved their best-ever finish of ninth place.
Italy will open their campaign with a match against England on March 8th, followed by matches against Austria and Korea on March 9th and 11th respectively.
