India finished runners-up after losing to England 2-0 in the final of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Qualifiers 2026, played at Hyderabad’s GMC Balayogi Hockey Ground on Saturday.
The Hyderabad leg was one of the qualifying meet for the Women’s Hockey World Cup, along with another tournament in Santiago, Chile. Eight teams participated in each tournament. The loss in the final, however, didn’t affect India’s qualification chances as they had earlier booked their Women’s Hockey World Cup berth earlier in the tournament when they qualified for the semifinals.
In the final on Saturday, Grace Balsdon (13’) and Elizabeth Neal (43’) scored for England, while India failed to find the back of the net. The hosts began the match aggressively with Navneet Kaur earning a penalty corner for her side in the opening two minutes of the match, but failed to convert.
India were doing well with their defensive play and also managing to make inroads until England earned a penalty corner in the dying minutes of the first quarter. Balsdon didn’t miss out as her drag-flick gave England 1-0 lead, while she registered her fifth goal from a penalty corner in the tournament.
The second quarter had intensity too with India testing the England defence but were not able to go past the goalkeeper, as the visitors held on to their one-goal advantage.
England controlled the game beautifully with more ball possession. India had their share of chances but the visitors were excellence in their defence.
The patience paid off for the visitors as they doubled the lead courtesy Elizabeth Neal. A shot from her stick deflected off an Indian defender before going past Bichu Devi, handing England 2-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.
India fought really hard to find the back of the net but England played positive and smart by keeping the tempo of the game going on. The final quarter saw India up the ante and pushed hard to sneak in a goal and managed to earn a penalty corner in the dying minutes, but failed to convert.
Earlier in the day, Scotland secured third place with a 1-0 win against Italy.
