England’s women have been drawn against New Zealand, India and China in the group stage of July’s World Cup in the tournament co-hosted by Spain and the Netherlands.
England’s group stage fixtures will take place at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, with the semi-finals and final taking place at Terrassa, the Olympic Stadium having hosted the 1992 Olympics.
England will be aiming to atone for their 11th place finish in 2014 and quarter-final defeatat the London World Cup of 2018, while India will be looking for a global medal after going close at Tokyo 2020.
“The past two World Cups I’ve been involved in have been really disappointing,” captain Hollie Pearne-Webb told the BBC this week.
“We want to go there and we don’t want just want to crash out. We want to try and push for medals. It’s a brand new squad so we’ve got a lot of work to do, but from what I sense so far I definitely think we’re capable of a medal.
“It’s definitely something on my wish list. It’s certainly going to be one of the biggest years in women’s sport.”
India, meanwhile, will be meeting a majority of the players who were selected for GB at Tokyo 2020 during their two meetings. “I believe we have improved a lot in the last two years, did well, and now we can do more in this World Cup,” said India’s Savita.
Ireland women, who lost to the Netherlands in the 2018 World Cup final, have been pitted against the Dutch, Germany and Chile, making their debut in the tournament.
“We’re so excited after watching the draw for the World Cup this summer,” said Ireland captain Katie Mullan. “It will be fantastic to play the Netherlands in their home stadium and to face Germany who we played last year in Tokyo. We know Chile are an up-and-coming team and will be very well prepared this summer so that will be another brilliant game to look forward to.”
Pool C will feature two-time champions Argentina, against hosts Spain in front of their home Terrassa crowd along, with Korea and Canada, who will play in the World Cup for the first time since 1994.
Pool D will also take place in Terrassa. Australia are the highest ranked side and will be seeking to win their third World Cup title following success in 1994 and 1998. They face Belgium’s rising Red Panthers, Japan and African champions South Africa.
The tournament starts on July 1.
FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup:
Pool A: Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Chile
Pool B: England, New Zealand, India, China
Pool C: Argentina, Spain, Korea, Canada
Pool D: Australia, Belgium, Japan, South Africa
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