United States, Chile complete semi-final line up at Women’s Nations Cup

Auckland, New Zealand: The final day of pool play of the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup New Zealand 2026 saw United States and Chile finish second in their respective pools confirming their spots in the semi-finals, which are coming up on Saturday, June 20.

The two qualifying teams couldn’t have gotten to their targets in much different ways, with United States romping home to a 4-0 win over Japan to take their second win on the trot, while Chile took the scenic route hanging on defensively for long periods to tie 2-2 against Korea, who would have pipped the Diablas, if they could’ve found another goal.

In the other two matches of the day, India and New Zealand continued their perfect streaks, winning their third match in a row ahead of semi-final matchups against Chile and USA respectively.

India 3-2 Uruguay (Pool A)

India started the game as the stronger of the two sides, but failed to find the early goal thanks to the goalkeeping heroics of Miranda Martinez. It was Uruguay who opened the scoring against the run of play, with Lalremsiami turning over possession and conceding a penalty corner, which was converted through a Chiara Apennino deflection on a Manuela Vilar flick. It took India until the 24th minute to find an equaliser, and once again it came through the stick of their ace drag flicker Deepika.

India took control of the game in the second half, largely holding possession and territory in the Uruguayan half. Their pressure paid off in the 43rd minute with Deepika Soreng scoring off a vicious reverse hit after a couple of smart saves by Maria Bate in the goal for Uruguay. Uruguay once again managed to get level through a penalty corner from Manuela Vilar in the 55th minute, but a minute later it was Deepika again stepping up from a penalty corner to give India the winning goal and complete a perfect pool stage with three wins from three.

Despite the loss, Manuela Vilar was awarded player of the match for her fantastic work in the Uruguayan midfield and said: “It is a new challenge for us to take on so many higher ranked teams in a competition like this, so I am glad we were able to push a team as good as India to the brink. Our team is full of youngsters, I am the only old one, so to say, so I am just happy to be able to keep up.”

USA 4-0 Japan (Pool A)

Japan needed a win in the final pool game to secure semi-final qualification, while a draw would have been enough for USA. But both teams came out of the gates with all guns blazing. The first half saw plenty of chances for both sides, but it was USA who converted their chances to take a 2-0 lead into the break, while Japan failed to convert on any of their five penalty corner opportunities, which resulted from constant phases of play where they dominated possession.

The second half followed a similar pattern. While Japan pressed for a goal that could give them a foothold in the game, it was USA who made use of the space in behind to launch quick counter attacks and remained clinical in their finishing, adding two more to the total, with Ashley Sessa’s brace being supplemented by goals from Claire Danahy and Madeleine Zimmer handing USA a comprehensive win that sends them through to the semi-finals.

Ashley Sessea, scorer of two brilliant goals for USA, was awarded player of the match and said: “We’ve made really quick starts to the game and that has been great. Sometimes the intensity can drop a little bit over time but the leaders in our team — Meredith Sholder and Ashley Hoffman — always advise us to do what we need to do to get the energy levels back up, and we’ve gone over a lot of film to sharpen our attack as a unit, so we are happy to have showcased it here today.”

Korea 2-2 Chile (Pool B)

Chile were off the gates in a flash, scoring in the first minute of the game, with Fernanda Arrieta’s loopy shot from close range taking a deflection off the goalkeeper’s glove and turning into the goal. Chile added a second at the end of the opening quarter, with Arrieta stepping up to take a penalty stroke and slotting it low to the left. Korea scored twice in the second quarter against the run of play to level things up going into the break, with the first coming from a high drag flick by Jiyun Choi, before captain Yuri Lee blasted a powerful shot past the Chilean keeper in the 29th minute, setting up an intriguing second half.

Korea were the dominant side in the second half, needing a win to qualify, while a draw was enough for Chile. The Korean attack against the Chilean defence went in favour of the South American side for the most part, with Korea not able to make their pressure count for any penalty corners. Korea played 10 minutes of the second half with 10 players after Mihyang Parker was shown a 10-minute yellow card for a robust challenge. Korea kept pushing despite the numerical disadvantage, but the elusive goal would not come for them, as Chile saw out the second half without conceding and secured the second semi-final spot from Pool B, behind New Zealand.

Chile captain Manuela Urroz was awarded player of the match and said: “We started the game really well, but faded away a little and credit to Korea for pulling level and putting us under pressure. In the end, happy to meet our target of qualifying from the group to the semi-final where we will face another tough challenge, but that is the nature of this competition and we are ready for it.”

New Zealand 0-0 France (Pool B)

The final match of the pool stage did not have many high stakes for New Zealand, with hosts guaranteed a top spot in the pool but France had the opportunity to qualify if they could get a big win. And the visitors did turn up with a fierce gameplan that caught New Zealand off guard in the opening half. France bossed possession for good parts of the first half, and while it was New Zealand who scored first via a Katilin Cotter penalty corner, France deservedly found an equaliser just after the half-time break through Albane Garot.

France continued to press forward looking for the lead and caused New Zealand some troubles, but the shooting touch was missing for the young side. Paige Blake who had been stunning in the midfield for the Blacksticks managed to put the hosts ahead in the end, smartly deflecting in a drag flick by Kaitlin Cotter in the 57th minute, breaking French hearts, but giving the home crowd — that had braved the rain and cold — plenty to cheer for, as New Zealand joined India in completing a perfect pool stage with three wins in three.

Paige Blake was awarded the player of the match and said: “It was a bit scrappy for us today, but in the end glad to get the win and go 3 for 3 in the pool stage. Making it to the semi-final was a non-negotiable goal for us, but we really want to go back-to-back in this competition.”

FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup – 18 June, 2026

North Harbour Hockey Stadium

Auckland, New Zealand

Match 1

India 3-2 Uruguay (Pool A)

Player of the match: Manuela Vilar (URU)

Umpires: Benjamin Peters (USA), Emi Yamada (JPN), Haroon Rashid (PAK – Video)

Match 2

USA 4-0 Japan (Pool A)

Player of the match: Ashley Sessa (USA)

Umpires: Amber Church (NZL), Kristy Robertson (AUS), Lani Nichol (NZL – video)

Match 3