Sport Field hockey No. of teams 12 Most titles Netherlands (7 titles) | Founded 1974 Continent International (FIH) Number of teams 12 | |
Most recent
champion(s) Netherlands (7th title) | ||
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.
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Of the thirteen tournaments held so far, only four teams have won the event. Netherlands is the most successful team, having won the title seven 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 2014 World Cup, fourteen nations had reached the semifinal of the tournament.
The size of the tournament has changed over time. 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); and the remaining seven World Cups have featured 12 nations. The World Cup will expand to 16 teams again in 2018, and the FIH will evaluate the possibility of increasing it to 24 in 2022.
The 2014 tournament was held in The Hague, Netherlands from 2 to 14 June, with Netherlands winning a record seventh title after beating Australia 2–0 in the final.
Successful national teams
* = host nation ^ = includes results representing West Germany between 1974 and 1990 # = states that have since split into two or more independent nationsTeam appearances
^ = includes results representing West Germany between 1974 and 1990 # = states that have since split into two or more independent nationsArgentina, 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.