Women’s Hockey World Cup qualifier: Ireland 0 Australia 1A 1-0 defeat by Australia in the semi-finals of their World Cup qualifying tournament in Santiago on Saturday night means Ireland’s women missed out on their first chance to book their place in this summer’s finals. They have, though, another opportunity when they play either Chile or Japan in Sunday evening’s third-place playoff. The game’s only goal, from a penalty stroke two minutes before half-time, proved to be a controversial one. Even if they were to lose that third-place playoff their World Cup qualifying hopes wouldn’t be over. The second qualifying tournament gets under way in India on Sunday – whichever fourth-placed finisher in the two tournaments has the higher world ranking will also qualify for the finals.

Source: The Irish Times March 08, 2026 11:05 UTC