The Argentine men’s and women’s national field hockey teams secured spots in the 2026 World Cup semifinals on Monday.
With both teams earning the results they needed to advance, Argentina became one of just two nations to have both teams in the semifinals — alongside one of the hosts, the Netherlands — in the simultaneous tournaments.
The Leonas started the second round with a leg up thanks to a first-round win against Germany, which qualified for the second round despite that loss to Argentina. After a solid 3-0 win against Spain on Saturday, all the Argentine team needed was a tie against the other hosts of the tournament, Belgium, to advance.
Without playing their best hockey, Argentina proved resilient in defense against a rival that pushed for a win, aiming to avoid a semifinal matchup against the Netherlands, the International Hockey Federation’s top-ranked team. A 0-0 tie proved enough for the Leonas to advance.
“It was a very tough match, but one of the best we’ve played,” said goalkeeper Cristina Cosentino after the match. The goalie was one of Argentina’s best players of the day, and was part of the team that beat Belgium in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to win a bronze medal.
“We always suffer,” Cosentino added, echoing Lionel Scaloni’s comments during the football World Cup. “The girls did a great job — they literally put their chests on the line during short corners. I’m really happy with the defense we have.”
Las Leonas will face Australia in the semifinals next Thursday, August 27, starting at 3:30 p.m. Argentina time. They will aim to secure a spot in their seventh World Cup final, with co-hosts the Netherlands and Belgium battling it out in the other semifinal.
Leones pushed to the limit
The men’s team actually had the tougher ask of the two, as they didn’t carry any first-round points into the second group stage after losing to the Dutch team in the opening round.
Playing early in the morning against India, they took a hard-fought 5-3 win but had to wait for England to tie the Netherlands to confirm their spot in the next stage.
It marks the Argentine men’s team’s second semifinal in its 15th World Cup appearance.
The Leones’ best result came in the 2014 tournament, where they claimed the bronze medal after falling 5-1 to eventual champions Australia in the semifinals and defeating England 2-0 in the third-place match.
They’re now set to face Germany in the semifinals on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Argentina time.
It’ll be a much calmer affair than it could have been for the Argentine team, as former teammate Gonzalo Peillat, who switched allegiances to Germany in 2022, missed the 2026 tournament due to a knee injury.
The Netherlands and Spain will battle for the first spot in the final earlier in the day, at 1 p.m. Argentina time.
