The EuroHockey Championship 2025 came to an end yesterday at Mönchengladbach, Germany with Germany men and Netherlands women clinching the titles. The Honamas defeated previous champions Netherlands in the men’s final as the Olympic champions settled for silver, while the Dutch women reversed the outcome in the women’s final, getting past the German women’s side who won silver. Meanwhile it was double delight for the Red Sticks as both the Spanish men’s and women’s sides clinched bronze medals at the competition.
The German men’s side also qualified for the upcoming FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026 to go with their gold medal, while on the women’s side, with both Netherlands and Germany already qualified for the event, it was Spain who secured World Cup qualification from the European competition.
In the men’s competition Netherlands topped Pool A, comfortably registering wins in all three of their league matches – against Spain, Belgium and Austria. Spain finished ahead of Belgium, winning against the Red Lions and also defeating Austria, to further solidify their growing stature in international hockey. In Pool B Germany topped the pool with wins against France and Poland and a draw against England. France pipped England to the second semi-final spot by defeating them 3-2 in a thriller, decided by a Timothée Clément goal, scored with mere seconds left on the clock!
Netherlands and Germany both came away with comfortable wins in the semi-finals. The Dutch won their match against France 3-1, with ace drag flicker Jip Janssen scoring twice and captain Theirry Brinkman adding a third. Germany, who had been denied a World Cup qualification spot at the FIH Hockey Pro League merely a few weeks earlier by Spain, turned the tables this time around to win 4-1 in the semi-final. The win not only sent them to the gold medal match, but also guaranteed them a spot at the upcoming World Cup.
Spain won the bronze medal, denying France their first ever EuroHockey podium finish, winning the match 2-0.
The final showdown, between the top two sides that had battled it out in the Olympic final just a year ago, was a nervy affair. Netherlands started off stronger and held a one-goal lead, procured through a Tijmen Reyenga penalty corner goal, until the final quarter. The final quarter belonged to the German side however, as they not only got back on level through Justus Weigand, but also looked more likely to grab the winner. And while the winner never came, the Germans came out on top in the shoot-outs, winning 4-1, thanks to goalkeeping heroics of Jean-Paul Danneberg.
German coach André Henning speaking after the final said: “Today is one of the best hockey experiences of our lives. It was an incredible challenge. We expected it to be exactly like this. The Dutch put us under enormous pressure in the first 20 minutes; you have to get through that phase and we succeeded. We found true courage in the locker room and we deserved it in the second half.”
In the women’s competition Netherlands comfortably topped Pool A, winning all three of their matches against Germany, France and Ireland. The second place in the pool was a tightly contested spot as Germany and Ireland played out a draw, while France defeated Ireland in their match-up. Germany’s comfortable 4-1 win over France however saw them finish second with four points, one ahead of the French side. Belgium topped the standings in Pool B with 7 points, coming from wins over England and Scotland, along with a draw against Spain. Spain drew their first two matches against Belgium and Scotland, but a win over England in the final pool match sent them to the semi-final.
Spain scored first in the semi-final against Netherlands, but the Dutch juggernaut got rolling towards the end of second quarter, with superstar Yibbi Jansen scoring a hat-trick of penalty corners to secure a 3-1 win for the World and Olympic Champions. The second semi-final was a tighter contest with Germany scoring in the second minute of the game and holding the lead until the final ten minutes when Red Panthers captain Alix Gerniers scored to level things up. The Germans came away 3-2 winners in the shoot-out, with German keeper Julia Sonntag preventing three Belgian attempts from going in.
Belgium were once again thwarted in the shoot-out of the bronze medal match after the regulation period finished at 0-0 against Spain. The Red Sticks won the shoot-out 2-1 to secure a podium place finish.
In the final, Netherlands scored early, finding the back of the goal in the fifth minute through Pien Dicke. A second goal in the second quarter through Luna Fokke, indicated that the defending champions may run away with the contest. Germany had different plans though, as they held fast in defence for the rest of the game, and captain Lisa Nolte put the Danas on the board in the second-half to set-up a tense finish. Despite Germany’s best attempts though, an equaliser could not be found and the Dutch side won their fifth EuroHockey title in a row.
Dutch midfielder Xan de Waard speaking after the match said: “It was great, great atmosphere. We couldn’t hear each other, so it was really hard in the field. It was a tough match and Germany did really well, but I think we deserved the win. Our mentality on the field when it comes to finals, we’re just different. We wanted it so much ourselves; I think we know we should get the gold medal and so the pressure is from outside the team but it’s nothing for us. We know what we have to do.”
With Germany qualifying for the upcoming Men’s World Cup through the EuroHockey Championship, six teams have now qualified for the event. Belgium and Netherlands, on account of being hosts of the event, gained direct qualification. Australia and Spain qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League. Argentina secured qualification recently through the Pan American Cup 2025. Continental championships in Asia, Africa and Oceania over the coming months will determine four more direct qualifiers for the event, with the remaining seven teams qualifying through the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in 2026.
Based on their performance at the Pan American Cup and the EuroHockey Championships, the following men’s teams have qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers 2026: USA, Canada, Chile, France, England, Austria, Poland, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, with five further sides qualifying from the upcoming Asia Cup and one from the Africa Cup of Nations.
With Spain qualifying for the upcoming Women’s World Cup through the EuroHockey Championship, six teams have now qualified for the event. Belgium and Netherlands, on account of being hosts of the event, gained direct qualification. Germany and Argentina qualified through the previous two editions of the FIH Hockey Pro League and USA secured their qualification recently at the Pan American Cup 2025. Continental championships in Asia, Africa and Oceania over the coming months will determine four more direct qualifiers for the event, with the remaining seven teams qualifying through the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers in 2026.
Based on their performance at the Pan American Cup and the EuroHockey Championships, the following women’s teams have qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers 2026: Uruguay, Chile, Canada, Ireland, England, France, Italy, Wales, Scotland, Austria and Switzerland, with with four further sides qualifying from the upcoming Asia Cup and one from the Oceania Cup.