England women's World Cup hopes end at group stage

England's women's hockey team's aspirations at the FIH Hockey World Cup were dashed in the group stage following a 0-0 draw against India. David Ralph's team finished third in Pool D with four points, while two teams advanced to the next round. They will now participate in a classification phase, which will see them ranked ninth to sixteenth.

England secured a 4-0 victory over South Africa in their opening match but lost to China two days later, falling behind after conceding four goals. Tess Howard and Sophie Hamilton managed to bring the score down to 4-2. Since their participation in the Commonwealth Games in 2022, England's women's team hasn't qualified for a major tournament, ending fourth in the 2023 EuroHockey Nations Championship and fifth the previous year.

England and Great Britain teams have not advanced beyond the sixth position in the FIH Pro League since the 2020-21 season. The Great Britain men's team, on the other hand, advanced to the second stage of the men's World Cup with a flawless record of three wins in Pool D. They defeated Pakistan 4-1 and India 4-2 before defeating Wales 8-2 in their final group stage match on Wednesday.

The English men's team will now face two qualifiers from Pool A in their second stage pool and aim to reach the semi-finals. England's women's team will face Chile on Friday and Japan on Sunday in their classification pool. Both World Cups are being held in Wavre, Belgium, and Amstelveen, the Netherlands.