Women's Hockey World Cup

For the men's tournament, see Hockey World Cup.

For other hockey World Cups, see World Cup (hockey).

Women's Hockey World Cup

Current season or competition: 2014 Women's Hockey World Cup
Sport	Field hockey
Founded	1974
No. of teams	12
Continent	International (FIH)
Most recent champion(s)	Argentina (2nd title)
Most titles	Netherlands (6 titles)
Official website	worldhockey.org

The Women's Hockey World Cup is the field hockey World Cup competition for women, whose format for qualification and final tournament is similar to the men's. It has been held since 1974. The tournament has been organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) since they merged with the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA) in 1982. Since 1986, it has been held regularly once every four years, in the same year as the men's competition, which is mid cycle between Summer Olympic games.

Of the twelve tournaments held so far, only four teams have won the event. Netherlands is the most successful team, having won the title six times. Argentina, Germany and Australia are joint second best teams, having each won the title twice. So far, Netherlands and Australia are the two champions able to defend their titles. At the end of the 2006 world cup, fourteen nations had reached the semifinal of the tournament.

There has been no limitation on the size of the competition. The 1974 and 1978 World Cups featured 10 nations (smallest); the 1976 World Cup featured 11 nations; the 2002 World Cup featured 16 nations (largest); the remaining seven World Cups have featured 12 nations. It was announced that the World Cup will expand to 16 teams for the 2018 editions, and that it will be evaluated the possibility of increasing it to 24 in 2022.

The 2006 Women's World Hockey Cup was held at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain from September 27 to October 8, 2006. The 2010 Women's Hockey World Cup was held in 2010 in Rosario, Argentina. Argentina won the tournament after beating Netherland 3–1. The 2014 tournament will be held in The Hague, Netherlands from June 2–14, 2014.

Results

Summaries

Year	Host		Final				Third Place Match
			Winner	Score	Runner-up		Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
1974	Mandelieu, France		Netherlands	1–0 after extra time	Argentina		West Germany	2–0	India
1976	Berlin, West Germany		West Germany	2–0	Argentina		Netherlands	1–0	Belgium
1978	Madrid, Spain		Netherlands	1–0	West Germany		Argentina Belgium	0–0
1981 Details	Buenos Aires, Argentina		West Germany	1–1 (3–1) Penalty strokes	Netherlands		Soviet Union	5–1	Australia
1983 Details	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia		Netherlands	4–2	Canada		Australia	3–1	West Germany
1986 Details	Amstelveen, Netherlands		Netherlands	3–0	West Germany		Canada	3–2 after extra time	New Zealand
1990 Details	Sydney, Australia		Netherlands	3–1	Australia		Korea	3–2	England
1994 Details	Dublin, Ireland		Australia	2–0	Argentina		United States	2–1	Germany
1998 Details	Utrecht, Netherlands		Australia	3–2	Netherlands		Germany	3–2	Argentina
2002 Details	Perth, Australia		Argentina	1–1 (4–3) Penalty strokes	Netherlands		China	2–0	Australia
2006 Details	Madrid, Spain		Netherlands	3–1	Australia		Argentina	5–0	Spain
2010 Details	Rosario, Argentina		Argentina	3–1	Netherlands		England	2–0	Germany
2014 Details	The Hague, Netherlands

Successful national teams

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third Places	Fourth Places
Netherlands	6 (1974, 1978, 1983, 1986*, 1990, 2006)	4 (1981, 1998*, 2002, 2010)	1 (1976)
Argentina	2 (2002, 2010*)	3 (1974, 1976, 1994)	2 (1978, 2006)	1 (1998)
Germany^	2 (1976*, 1981)	2 (1978, 1986)	2 (1974, 1998)	3 (1983, 1994, 2010)
Australia	2 (1994, 1998)	2 (1990*, 2006)	1 (1983)	2 (1981, 2002*)
Canada		1 (1983)	1 (1986)
Belgium			1 (1978)	1 (1976)
England			1 (2010)	1 (1990)
China			1 (2002)
Korea			1 (1990)
Soviet Union#			1 (1981)
United States			1 (1994)
India				1 (1974)
New Zealand				1 (1986)
Spain				1 (2006*)

* = host nation

^ = includes results representing West Germany between 1974 and 1990

# = states that have since split into two or more independent nations

Performance by continental zones

Continent	Best performance
Europe	8 titles, won by the Netherlands (6) and Germany (2)
Americas	2 titles, won by Argentina
Oceania	2 titles, won by Australia
Asia	Third place (Korea, 1990 and China, 2002)
Africa	Seventh place (South Africa, 1998)

Team appearances

Team	1974	1976	1978	1981	1983	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	Total
Argentina	2nd	2nd	3rd	6th	9th	7th	9th	2nd	4th	1st	3rd	1st		12
Australia	-	-	-	4th	3rd	6th	2nd	1st	1st	4th	2nd	5th		9
Austria	8th	9th	-	12th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		3
Belgium	5th	4th	3rd	8th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		4
Canada	-	-	5th	5th	2nd	3rd	10th	10th	-	-	-	-		6
Czechoslovakia#	-	-	9th	-	-	-	-	Defunct						1
China	-	-	-	-	-	-	6th	7th	11th	3rd	10th	8th		6
England	-	-	-	-	5th	5th	4th	9th	9th	5th	7th	3rd		8
France	7th	6th	-	9th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		3
Germany^	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	4th	2nd	8th	4th	3rd	7th	8th	4th		12
India	4th	-	7th	-	11th	-	-	-	12th	-	11th	9th		6
Ireland	-	-	-	-	-	12th	-	11th	-	15th	-	-		3
Italy	-	10th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		1
Japan	-	-	6th	7th	-	-	11th	-	-	10th	5th	11th		6
Korea	-	-	-	-	-	-	3rd	5th	5th	6th	9th	6th		6
Mexico	10th	7th	-	11th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		3
Netherlands	1st	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	1st	1st	6th	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd	Q	13
New Zealand	-	-	-	-	7th	4th	7th	-	6th	11th	-	7th		6
Nigeria	-	11th	10th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		2
Russia	Part of the Soviet Union							12th	-	16th	-	-		2
Scotland	-	-	-	-	8th	10th	-	-	10th	12th	-	-		4
South Africa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7th	13th	12th	10th		4
Soviet Union#	-	-	-	3rd	10th	8th	-	Defunct						3
Spain	6th	5th	8th	10th	-	11th	5th	8th	-	8th	4th	12th		10
Switzerland	9th	8th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		2
Ukraine	Part of the Soviet Union							-	-	14th	-	-		1
United States	-	-	-	-	6th	9th	12th	3rd	8th	9th	6th	-		7
Wales	-	-	-	-	12th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		1
Total	10	11	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	16	12	12	12	155

^ = includes results representing West Germany between 1974 and 1990

# = states that have since split into two or more independent nations

Argentina, Germany and the Netherlands are the only teams to have competed at each World Cup; 28 teams have competed in at least one World Cup.