France and Wales men move on to semifinals at Hockey World Cup Qualifier in Santiago

After another full slate of games at the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifier in Santiago, Chile, two more men’s teams secured their semifinal position.  In men’s Pool A, France and Wales grabbed semifinal spots by the slightest of margins. With a 3-3 tie against Chile, France secured the top spot in Pool A, while Wales powered to second with a 5-0 shutout over Scotland.

With the teams advancing to the semifinals in men’s Pool B already sorted prior, Ireland and Poland played for final placement, with Ireland taking first place after a 4-1 win. Canada defeated Korea to finish third.

Wales secure place in semis with 5-0 win over Scotland

The chaos continued into the next match, where Wales fought back from the bottom of the group by tallying enough goals to secure their place in the semifinals. Despite their late efforts, Scotland were unable to overcome the deficit.

Knowing what they needed, Wales got straight to work, scoring in the fourth minute when Jack Pritchard tapped in a crossed ball. It didn’t take long for Fred Newbold to double the lead on a penalty corner flick.

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Scotland settled in, but not enough to withstand a counter late in the second stanza that ended with Rhys Bradshaw tipping in a third goal for Wales. Fred Newbold and Sam Welsh finished the deal for Wales with two more goals in the third quarter.

As if suddenly acutely aware of the peril of their situation, Scotland picked up their intensity in the fourth quarter. Despite employing an extra field player and generating some chances, Scotland could not find the three goals they needed.

Fred Newbold of Wales was chosen as player of the match. “Fantastic,” said Newbold. “It’s the kind of game you want to play…to get to the semifinal to have a chance to qualify for the World Cup. Fantastic, brilliant for both sides. You can see in the quality of hockey the whole game was fantastic, and it was honestly so fun to play.”

With everything on the line, it was a tense match from the start between France and Chile. Pics: fih.hockey

France hold Chile 3-3, move into last four

With everything on the line, it was a tense match from the start between France and Chile. A back-and-forth first quarter ended with a celebration of Chile fans after Juan Amoroso converted on a penalty corner chance.

France would not back down easily, earning their own set piece in the second frame and seeing Victor Charlet convert. Then in the third, finding himself in the right position at the right time, Vicente Goñi tapped in Chile’s second goal to the roar of the crowd.

Following the first half script, France leveled the score via a Victor Charlet set piece goal in the fourth quarter. It was time for something new in the 56th minute, as France took their first lead of the match courtesy Benjamin Marqué’s incredible reverse hit goal. Chile’s Juan Amoroso followed it up quickly with a penalty corner tally to tie up the scoreline yet again. Needing more than a draw, Chile pushed hard, but were unable to find another goal.

France’s Benjamin Marqué was named player of the match. “It was a very tense game,” said Marqué. “…Chile kept fighting until the end, but we made it and we’re happy that we’re through.”

Ireland clinched first place in Pool B by beating Poland 4-1.

Ireland down Poland 4-1, top Pool B

With the tension eased after both teams secured a spot in the semifinals the previous day, the duo was fighting for the first-place pool finish. And it was Ireland who claimed this position with a 4-1 win over Poland.

Ireland had the first goal of the game, striking at the end of the first quarter with a reverse shot by Louis Rowe. They kept up the offensive pressure through the match, tallying a goal in each quarter. Lee Cole claimed a second-quarter goal off a penalty corner, Benjamin Walker hit one out of the air in the third, and Matthew Nelson capped the scoring.

Poland avoided a shutout by converting a set piece in the 52nd minute, splitting Ireland’s third and fourth goals. Wojciech Rutkowski fired a high flick into the back of the net.

Ireland’s Louis Rowe was named player of the match. “It’s what we came to do,” said Rowe. “Coming after the first two games, it was good to come here. We just wanted to win and top the group and then we’ll see our opponent for the semifinal.”

Canada thrash Korea 7-2, finish third

With a different kind of pressure lifted after failing to advance to the semifinals, Canada and Korea were looking for a win to boost their world ranking points. In a scrappy, high-scoring match, Canada took a 7-2 win.

The first quarter was a doozy, featuring a penalty stroke save, a goal for each side, and both team referrals lost. Korea’s Chankyu Choi scored first via a hard shot, but the lead didn’t last long as Matthew Sarmento tallied for Canada shortly after the whistle restarted play.

Rowan Childs gave Canada the go-ahead goal early in the second quarter by tucking away a rebound. With a powerful strike several minutes later, Robin Thind doubled Canada’s lead.

Canada and Korea were looking for a win to boost their world ranking points

To start off the third frame, a penalty stroke was missed for the second time in the match, this time by Korea. Later on in the quarter, a perfect cross from Kirin Robinson found Sean Davis to put Canada up, 4-1.

In the final 15 minutes, a penalty corner flick from Korea’s Jonghyun Jang brought the scoreline to 4-2. Canada quickly reestablished its three-goal lead when Thomson Harris tipped in a set piece. Sean Davis and Jude Nicholson helped make it an emphatic win for Canada by both scoring in the final ten minutes.

Canada’s Sean Davis was named player of the match. “It’s a good match from us,” said Davis. “We started a bit rough in the pool, losing our first two, but to come back like this against Korea, a team that we’ve had some good games against recently, I’m really happy with how we performed.”