The Hyderabad leg of the World Cup qualifier offers three qualification berths

Nearly ten days ahead of the FIH Women Cup 2026 qualifier, Uruguay women’s hockey team arrives in Hyderabad, Telangana, to get acclimatized to the local weather condition and time zone. The Uruguay squad was given a warm welcome on their arrival to Hyderabad.

The FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers is scheduled to be held from March 8 to 14 in Telangana. The eight-nation tournament offers three berths for the global showpiece to be held in Belgium and the Netherlands scheduled to be held from August 15-30.

Uruguay’s skipper Belén Barreiro exuded confidence to earn a berth for the World Cup in August. “We have been preparing for this tournament (qualifier) since last year,” Belén was quoted as saying.

“We had some intense training sessions over the last few weeks. We will give our 100 percent,” Belén added.

Uruguay will be chasing its first-ever World Cup appearance. On their way to the World Cup qualifier in Hyderabad, Belén and her team gave a good account of themselves by finishing second at the inaugural FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2. Uruguay also won bronze at the 2025 Pan American Cup in front of the home crowd.

Uruguay will play their opening match against the home team on March 8. The South American team will face Wales on March 9. Uruguay’s last pool match will be against Scotland on March 11.

After the pool stage the top two teams from each group will advance to semifinals. The finalists and bronze medal winner will get an automatic berth for the World Cup.

Pool A: Austria, England, Italy, Korea

Pool B: India, Scotland, Uruguay, Wales.

EOM