Hyderabad, March 4 (IANS): The Italy women’s national hockey team arrived in Hyderabad for the upcoming FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers Hyderabad, Telangana.

Scheduled from March 8 to 14, eight nations will compete for three crucial berths for the much-anticipated tournament in Belgium and the Netherlands later this year in August.

Italy have 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 recorded their best-ever finish of ninth place.

Italy will open their campaign with a clash against England on 8th March, followed by matches against Austria and Korea on 9th and 11th March respectively.

On the occasion, Captain of the Italy women’s national hockey team, Sara Puglisi said, “We have just arrived in Hyderabad after a good period of preparation with the team. We are ready to compete and achieve the results we need to qualify for the FIH Hockey World Cup. That is what we hope and that's what we have trained so hard for the tournament."

--IANS

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