Hockey World Cup 2026: Quarterfinals Gone, Here’s How the New Format Works

The 2026 Hockey World Cup is set to bring a major change to the competition format.

With the men’s and women’s tournaments being played simultaneously in the Netherlands and Belgium. The action begins on August 15, with the women’s final scheduled for August 29 and the men’s final for August 30.

The biggest change is the removal of the traditional quarterfinal stage. Instead, the tournament will feature a revamped three-stage structure designed to make every match in the opening phase more important.

Under the new system, 16 teams will first compete in four pools of four. The top teams then progress to the next phase, where they are placed into crossover pools. Importantly, points earned against teams that advance alongside them carry over, meaning results from the opening stage can have a direct impact on the race for the semifinals.

After the second phase, the top two teams from each crossover pool will advance directly to the semifinals. This effectively replaces the quarterfinals and leaves teams with little room for error from the very beginning of the tournament.

The revamped format is expected to make the group-stage matches more significant, as teams will need to build a strong points tally early to improve their chances of reaching the final four.

PHASE 1: POOL STAGE

The Hockey World Cup 2026 will begin with 16 teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions divided into four pools — A, B, C and D. Each team will play three matches against the other teams in its pool.

Women’s Pools

• Pool A: Netherlands, Australia, Chile, Japan — Netherlands
• Pool B: Argentina, Germany, USA, Scotland — Belgium
• Pool C: Belgium, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland — Belgium
• Pool D: China, England, India, South Africa — Netherlands

Men’s Pools

• Pool A: Netherlands, Argentina, New Zealand, Japan — Netherlands
• Pool B: Belgium, Germany, France, Malaysia — Belgium
• Pool C: Australia, Spain, Ireland, South Africa — Belgium
• Pool D: England, India, Pakistan, Wales — Netherlands

Teams will be ranked from first to fourth based on their results in the three pool matches. But unlike previous editions, finishing the opening phase does not directly send teams into a quarterfinal.

PHASE 2: THE NEW CROSSOVER POOLS

After the first phase, the teams will be redistributed into four new pools — E, F, G and H — according to their Phase 1 positions.

• Pool E: 1st and 2nd from Pools A and D
• Pool F: 1st and 2nd from Pools B and C
• Pool G: 3rd and 4th from Pools A and D
• Pool H: 3rd and 4th from Pools B and C

Each team will play three additional matches in Phase 2, facing teams it did not meet in the opening pool stage.

There is one important twist: when two teams from the same original pool move into the same Phase 2 pool, the result of their Phase 1 meeting will be carried forward. This means every match in the opening phase could have an impact later in the tournament.

PHASE 3: CLASSIFICATION AND SEMI-FINALS

The final standings in Pools E, F, G and H will determine the teams’ positions from 5th to 16th, while the top two teams from Pools E and F will advance to the semi-finals.

For the classification matches:

• The bottom teams in Pools G and H will play for 15th-16th place.
• The third-placed teams will contest 13th-14th place.
• The second-placed teams will play for 11th-12th place.
• The pool winners will compete for 9th-10th place.
• The fourth-placed teams from Pools E and F will battle for 7th-8th place.
• The third-placed teams from Pools E and F will play for 5th-6th place.

At the top end, the top two teams from Pools E and F will qualify for the semi-finals.

The semi-final match-ups will be:

1st in Pool E vs 2nd in Pool F

1st in Pool F vs 2nd in Pool E

This means there is no separate quarterfinal stage. A top-two finish in either Pool E or Pool F is enough to secure a place in the last four.

MEDAL MATCHES

The women’s Hockey World Cup will conclude in the Netherlands on August 29, with the bronze medal match followed by the final.

The men’s tournament will conclude a day later, on August 30, in Belgium. The bronze medal playoff will be followed by the men’s final.

With the quarterfinals removed, the new format puts greater importance on consistency across both phases and makes results from the opening pool stage more significant than ever.