Under the height of pressure, eight teams fought on day one of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifier in Santiago, Chile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Action kicked off with two men\u2019s Pool B matches, seeing Ireland take a 5-2 victory over Canada and Poland with a dramatic 3-2 upset over Korea. Next up was a men\u2019s Pool A doubleheader, where Scotland added an upset of their own with a 3-2 win over France, while Chile and Wales finished out the day with a tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The top three finishers in each gender will earn their spot at the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026 this August. The fourth place finisher with the highest ranking among qualifiers will also secure their spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Men\u2019s) Korea 2 \u2013 3 Poland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a fourth quarter thriller for Poland, who were able to upset Korea 3-2 after trailing twice in the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A scoreless first quarter was broken open by Korea\u2019s Dohyun Lim in minute 27 with a set piece flick. The lead survived just the halftime, as Poland\u2019s Gracjan Jarzy\u0144ski capitalized on<\/p>\n\n\n\n a well-read intercept in Korea\u2019s backfield to tie the match 1-1. Korea would regain their lead via Syong Oh to close out the third quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the fourth it would be Jarzy\u0144ski again, this time with a reverse chip, to even out the scoreline for Poland. Capitalizing on the momentum, Poland pushed ahead and scored with a finish from Micha\u0142 Lange just a minute later to snatch the lead. A tension-filled final few minutes saw Poland hold on for the 3-2 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt definitely was not the easiest one\u201d commented Poland skipper Jacek Kurowski. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut as we said the most important thing that we earned the three points and that\u2019s the main thing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poland\u2019s Gracjan Jarzy\u0144ski was awarded player of the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Men\u2019s) Ireland 5 \u2013 2 Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The performance from Ireland for the first three quarters threatened a shutout over Canada, but a barrage of goals in the final frame better showed the evenness of the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland\u2019s Adam McAllister scored the first goal of the Santiago qualifier in the opening quarter, giving Ireland a lead that was never lost. Tallies from Jonathan Lynch and Jeremy Duncan in the second and third quarters, respectively, put the favorites up 3-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the span of the first seven minutes of the final quarter, two sets of goals were traded. A set piece goal from Canada\u2019s Rowan Childs was quickly answered with a set piece goal from Ireland\u2019s Lee Cole. Canada responded with a tally from Jude Nicholson, but poor skill from Canada\u2019s Roopkanwar Dhillon resulted in a penalty stroke for Ireland, who were shortly back with their comfortable three-goal advantage. Ireland finished out with a 5-2 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland\u2019s Adam McAllister said: \u201cAlthough it got tight in the end, I think we were comfortable enough in the end. We left a few goals out there but maybe we can score them another day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland\u2019s Lee Cole was awarded player of the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Men\u2019s) France 2 \u2013 3 Scotland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Scotland followed suit with a 3-2 upset of their own, claiming victory over France and the first in Pool A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n France may have gotten too comfortable with a two-goal lead after goals from Gaspard Denis off a reverse hit and Victor Charlet off a penalty stroke. With France up 2-0 in minute 20, an offensive outburst from Scotland\u2014contained to the second quarter\u2014switched the script, due to the offensive prowess of the Golden brothers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jamie Golden tallied first with a penalty corner conversion, and older brother Cameron found the back of the net twice in the next three minutes. Those three goals would prove to be all that Scotland needed, as they kept their 3-2 lead until the final whistle, powering through despite physical play on both sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With two key goals, Scotland\u2019s Cameron Golden was named player of the match. \u201cIt was an absolutely fantastic match for us,\u201d said Golden. \u201cObviously first game, we take it as it comes, always. Scotland are usually underdogs, we fight, we fight, and you know it pays off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think we played our way into the game, we got better and better, I think it\u2019s good that we can defend so well and then see the game out,\u201d added Golden\u2019s brother Jamie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Men\u2019s) Wales 2 \u2013 2 Chile<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It looked like host Chile would finish out day one with a third upset, but after holding a 2-1 lead that spanned over 20 minutes, Wales was able to tie the match after putting away a penalty stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wales earned an early lead against the hosts with a goal from Nicholas Morgan which withstood the test of a video referral. This gave Chile the wake up they needed, as they went on to score back-to-back goals in the second quarter from Raimundo Valenzuela and Agustin Valenzuela. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the sun set in Santiago, a win for the hosts looked inevitable, but a determined Wales side benefited from a penalty stroke call that was made by Gareth Furlong. Despite fourth quarter chances for both teams, the match would end in a 2-2 draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was such a tough match, they played a very good game,\u201d said Chile\u2019s Kay Gesswein. \u201cWe tried to stay ahead but they caught us in the last minute so it\u2019s a shame, but we\u2019re excited for the next match.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chile\u2019s Juan Amoroso was awarded player of the match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Results:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland 5 \u2013 2 Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Player of the match: Lee Cole (IRL) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Korea 2 \u2013 3 Poland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Player of the match: Gracjan Jarzy\u0144ski (POL) <\/p>\n\n\n\n France 2 \u2013 3 Scotland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Player of the match: Cameron Golden (SCO) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wales 2 \u2013 2 Chile<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Player of the match: Juan Amoroso (CHI) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Under the height of pressure, eight teams fought on day one of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[60],"class_list":["post-10041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-hockey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers.webp",1024,576,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers-300x169.webp",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers-768x432.webp",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers.webp",640,360,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers.webp",1024,576,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers.webp",1024,576,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers-825x575.webp",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers-590x410.webp",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"International<\/a>","tag_info":"International","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Poland-beats-Korea-in-the-hockey-quaifiers.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10043,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10041\/revisions\/10043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}