Ireland (women): the Green Army between the 2018 miracle and a new breakthrough

Eight seconds. That was all Ireland had when, in March 2026 in Santiago, it won the ball in the closing stage against Japan, in a match that meant qualification or disappointment. It stayed 0-0, the tie went to the shoot-outs, and there goalkeeper Lizzie Murphy grew into the hero of the day who steered Ireland to the World Cup with decisive saves. It was exactly the kind of moment this team is known for: cool under the greatest pressure, always just on the right side of the margin.

But beneath that single moment lies a bigger story, and an uncomfortable question. Was London 2018, the World Cup silver that made an entire country dream, a one-off miracle? Or has the Green Army built a lasting foundation under it ever since? And can this still semi-professional generation finally break the painful run of so-near-yet-so-far near-finals, of all things against Spain and New Zealand in its own World Cup pool? That is the central question this dossier follows through the history, the tactics and the mentality of Irish women's hockey.

World ranking and Pro League

On the FIH world ranking Ireland belongs in the global upper tier.

That sounds modest, but the figure conceals a team on the rise. Since late 2025 Ireland has been playing for the first time in the FIH Pro League, the highest competition in the world, and in March 2026 both the women and the men qualified for the World Cup, for the men even for the first time in eight years.

In that debut season in the Pro League Ireland is fighting for survival at the highest level, with the closing blocks in Rotterdam and Berlin still to come. The winner of the Pro League qualifies directly for the 2028 Olympic Games; for Ireland the realistic goal is above all survival and experience against the world's best, precisely in the run-up to the World Cup.

The roots: ILHU 1894 and the first women's international

The roots of Irish women's hockey reach deeper than those of almost any other nation in the world. The Irish Ladies Hockey Union was founded in 1894, and on 2 March 1896 Ireland played England in the very first international in the history of women's field hockey.

All World Cup appearances

Source of the table: Wikipedia, Ireland women's national field hockey team.

The miracle of London 2018

The fairytale of 2018 remains the benchmark against which everything is measured. Ireland went into the tournament as the second lowest ranked team, often cited as world number 16, with a squad of part-timers and amateurs, facing a side of full-time professionals in the final. After shoot-out wins over India and Spain Ireland stood in the final, where the Netherlands proved too strong at 0-6 in the London heat, but the team returned with silver and Ayeisha McFerran was named best goalkeeper of the tournament.

The uneven European Championship picture

In Europe the picture is more uneven. The best European Championship result is a fifth place; in 2023 Ireland just held on to the top level with a joint highest-ever fifth spot. At the 2025 European Championship in Mönchengladbach, however, the team finished last, eighth, a clear step back in the run-up to the World Cup year.

Who is Gareth Grundie

The direct trigger for the current cycle was pain. In January 2024 Ireland lost the last Olympic qualification spot in a 1-2 play-off against Great Britain. It was the end of the Paris dream, and shortly afterwards head coach Sean Dancer stepped down. In October 2024 Gareth Grundie was appointed head coach; he started on 1 November 2024.

Philosophy and staff

Grundie, born in Belfast, is no stranger to Irish hockey. He was an assistant for the 2018 World Cup silver and led the team on an interim basis to its first Olympic qualification, before becoming head coach of the Czech Republic. Ahead of the World Cup qualifier he summed up his approach: Ireland had to "control the tempo and impose our game", with no room for complacency. His staff consists of assistants Graeme Francey, Nigel Henderson and Mick McKinnon, with sports psychologist Mags McCarthy as the human anchor.

Pro League debut and the road to the World Cup

Under Grundie a rapid rise followed. At the 2025 Nations Cup in Chile Ireland reached the final, but lost to New Zealand on shoot-outs, after Katie Mullan had equalised with four minutes to go. Because New Zealand then turned down the Pro League invitation, Ireland moved up as runner-up and the Green Army made its Pro League debut in season 7. That debut season started at home in Dublin: Ireland lost twice narrowly 2-1 to Belgium, but claimed its first points with a shoot-out win over England after 1-1. In Hobart a milestone followed: a 4-1 win over the hosts, the first ever victory over Australia. For the final phase Grundie travelled with a 25-strong squad to Rotterdam and Berlin, with the return of McFerran as the eye-catcher; he described those matches as the actual final preparation for the World Cup.

The staff

Head coach Gareth Grundie; assistants Graeme Francey, Nigel Henderson and Mick McKinnon; manager Cliodhna O'Connor; sports psychologist Mags McCarthy.

The World Cup qualification squad (Santiago, February/March 2026)

The full qualification squad was announced in February 2026 by Hockey Ireland; Mikayla Power dropped out with an injury. For the final phase of the Pro League a striking name also returned and a special one made her debut: Aisling Utri, a Melbourne-born former AFL player and Australian youth international who chose Ireland because her mother is from Dublin.

Key players

• Lizzie Murphy (goalkeeper, born 28 June 1998, Loreto): the in-form first choice with a reputation as a shoot-out specialist. She was Player of the Match in the decisive qualification match against Japan.
• Sarah Hawkshaw (captain, midfield/attack, born 4 November 1995 in Dublin): captain since December 2024 as successor to Katie Mullan. Plays for Braxgata in Antwerp.
• Katie Mullan (attack, born 7 April 1994 in Coleraine, Northern Ireland): captain from 2018 and one of the figureheads of Irish hockey, who has by now played her 250th cap.
• Roisin Upton (defence/penalty stroke, born 1 April 1994 in Limerick, Catholic Institute): a mainstay at the back, often in an advanced sweeper role, with a feared drag flick.
• Sarah Torrans (attack, born 14 February 1999 in Dublin, Loreto): Ireland's top scorer and attacking threat; she scored twice in the crucial 5-1 win over Canada.
• Caoimhe Perdue (defender and penalty corner specialist, born 4 May 2000 in Cashel, UCC): a drag-flick specialist who at times made her drag flick pay off during the qualification.

Contextually relevant are Ayeisha McFerran, the best goalkeeper of the 2018 World Cup, who in June 2026 returned after an injury at English club Surbiton, and Graham Shaw, the head coach of the 2018 silver team.

Competition per line: the goalkeeper battle

The system

The Irish playing identity is recognisable: a compact, hard-working defence that makes life difficult for the opponent and then switches quickly into the counter. Roisin Upton sometimes operates as a pushed-up sweeper, a role she already filled at the first Olympic qualifier of 2019, and the penalty corner programme revolves around Perdue as drag flick and Torrans as injector, as became visible during the qualifier in Santiago.

The weakness: the finishing

But there is an honest caveat, and it lies precisely in the finishing. Against the world's best Ireland scores with difficulty: in their Pro League debut they went down 2-1 twice in Dublin against Belgium, and at the 2025 Euros the team finished last. It is the structural vulnerability that trips up an otherwise solid team time and again: plenty of possession and plenty of pressure, but too little return in front of goal. In Wavre that can make the difference between progressing and falling just short.

The shoot-out DNA

What does make Ireland unique is a deliberate shoot-out DNA. From McFerran in 2018, through the dramatic baseline move and shoot-out win against Canada in 2019, to Murphy in Santiago in 2026: the Green Army strikingly often reaps the rewards in the lottery of the one-on-ones. In the Pro League too Ireland took a bonus point against England by turning a 1-1 into a shoot-out win. The goalkeeping battle between the in-form Murphy and the returned 2018 icon McFerran makes that department a genuine strength.

Ireland is in World Cup pool C, together with three tough opponents, all European or Pro League sides.

Belgium (Red Panthers)

Co-host and number three in the world under head coach Rein van Eijk. The team leans on captains Alix Gerniers and Michelle Struijk, on top scorer Ambre Ballenghien, who led the Belgian league in the goalscoring charts, and on Charlotte Englebert, who plays her club hockey at world-class side Den Bosch; at the penalty corner Stephanie Vanden Borre is the specialist. Belgium reached the semi-finals at the Paris 2024 Games and plays its pool matches at home in Wavre. Yet captain Hawkshaw flipped the psychology around: "I like playing Belgium and I don't think they like playing us", and she sees the draw suiting Ireland, partly thanks to the Braxgata block that knows the Belgian stars inside out week in, week out.

Spain (Red Sticks)

One of the great powers of European hockey, which qualified via the semi-finals of the 2025 Euros. Spain beat Ireland in the 2023-24 Nations Cup final, with Lola Riera as top scorer and best player, but Ireland beat Spain in the 2018 World Cup semi-final, after which Spain took bronze at that same tournament. Key players are drag flick specialist Lola Riera and goalkeeper Clara Perez.

New Zealand (Black Sticks)

Around tenth in the world under head coach Phil Burrows, with Olivia Shannon as (co-)captain. New Zealand beat Ireland in the 2025 Nations Cup final on shoot-outs, with Holly Pearson as Player of the Tournament, although Ireland had still won in the pool stage of that same tournament, which made the final a reversed result. Analysts see this as the pivotal match: this is where the most points are up for grabs for Ireland.

Other rivals: England and the Netherlands

Historically, England also resonates, the oldest rivalry, since 1896, and the Netherlands, the ultimate benchmark and the 0-6 opponent in the 2018 final.

The common thread beneath this team is an arc of redemption that runs from Paris to the World Cup. Sarah Hawkshaw was strikingly candid about the pain of the missed Games: when the goal the group had invested everything in fell away, it was hard to love the game again for a while. In that same conversation she describes how sports psychologist Mags McCarthy helped her order her thoughts, a rare and concrete human anchor in an elite-sport story.

After qualifying, Murphy put into words the collective drive and the awareness that the success is broader than just the travelling team: it is also the players who stayed at home, the entire squad that kept building after a tough year. The leadership culture is firmly anchored. Hawkshaw, who stressed at her appointment that togetherness has always been a strong feature of the Irish team, leans emphatically on experienced players like Mullan, Upton and McLoughlin.

An all-Ireland team

Ireland is an all-Ireland team: players from both the Republic and Northern Ireland come together under Hockey Ireland, which at the Olympics officially competes for the Republic but selects from the whole island. With Coleraine, Limerick, Belfast and Cashel alongside Dublin, the team draws from every corner.

The club system and the European diaspora

Since the missed Paris Games, the model has shifted from a centralised amateur model to a European semi-professional diaspora. Captain Hawkshaw and Upton play for Braxgata in Antwerp and share an apartment there; the twins Michelle and Niamh Carey play there too, while Perdue is in Rotterdam, McLoughlin in Ghent and McFerran in England. The Belgian league is considered one of the strongest in the world, behind the Dutch Hoofdklasse, and local clubs such as Loreto produce a striking number of internationals.

An international outlook

At the same time it remains a dual-career world. Hawkshaw combines hockey with several degrees and a remote job, and the influx is international: even an Australian-Irish AFL convert like Aisling Utri found her way into the squad. The success of 2018 was moreover a catalyst for the wider ambition to inspire young players, and in 2026 a record investment in elite sport underpins the further professionalisation. The double Irish World Cup qualification of 2026, women and men, underlines how hockey on the island is on the rise.

The venues

The World Cup 2026 runs from 15 to 30 August in Amstelveen and Wavre; Ireland plays all its pool matches at the new Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre.

Pool C, opponents and the match schedule

Ireland is in pool C, together with host nation Belgium, Spain and New Zealand. The schedule and the pool are shown live below from the World Cup programme.

The tournament format and what makes this World Cup special

Schedule and pool according to the official World Cup programme and the draw. The format: sixteen teams, four pools of four. The top two of each pool advance to the intermediate round, after which two new groups of four produce the semi-finalists and the medal matches follow. The women's final is on 29 August in Amstelveen, although Ireland plays its pool in Belgium.

Scenario analysis

A world title is unrealistic; that deserves to be said honestly. As the lowest-ranked team in a pool with co-host Belgium (top three), Spain and New Zealand, getting out of the pool is achievable, but no certainty. The match against New Zealand on 18 August is the pivotal game: that is where most points lie, partly because Ireland already beat the Black Sticks in the pool round of the 2025 Nations Cup. The most realistic success is reaching the intermediate round. At the same time, an early exit is a real risk, given the relative inexperience of the squad and the persistent weakness in finishing.

1. Lizzie Murphy in shoot-outs and one-on-ones. The Irish goalkeepers are historically decisive in the lottery; Murphy proved that against Japan in the qualifier.

2. The goalkeeping battle Murphy-McFerran-Micklem. With the return of McFerran from an injury, the question is who stands between the posts in the crucial duels.

3. Roisin Upton at set pieces. Watch her role as an advanced sweeper and her penalty-stroke and baseline threat, proven in the 2019 Olympic qualifier.

4. The penalty corner combination Perdue and Torrans. Perdue as drag flick, Torrans as injector: Ireland's hope for more return from set pieces.

5. Hawkshaw frustrating Belgium. The psychological cat-and-mouse game against the Red Panthers, with Hawkshaw's own conviction that the draw suits Ireland.

6. Veteran Katie Mullan. Beyond her 250th cap, still a leader and a threat in attack.

7. Ireland-Spain as a direct line to 2018. The semi-final in London, which cost Spain the bronze, gets a new chapter in Wavre.

8. The Irish high press. Ireland often presses fiercely, with an aggressive press that even put New Zealand under pressure in the Nations Cup final.

Was London 2018 a one-off miracle? This dossier's answer is a nuanced no. The silver was the catalyst, but the foundation was truly laid afterwards: a European diaspora that let the players mature in the strongest leagues in the world, a Pro League debut against the absolute elite, and a double World Cup qualification. At the same time, this is still a semi-professional side from the global second tier, with a persistent weakness in finishing that keeps resurfacing at the major tournaments.

The Paris wound remains the benchmark against which this generation measures itself. In Wavre, against Spain and New Zealand, the Green Army gets the chance to finally break the painful run of so-near-yet-so-far finals. Advancing from the pool would be more than a result: it would be confirmation that the miracle of 2018 has become a method.

Official and authoritative: FIH, Hockey Ireland, EuroHockey, Olympics.com, Team Ireland, the official World Cup programme, Wikipedia and Sport NI. Rival sources: Real Federacion Espanola de Hockey, Vantage Black Sticks and RNZ. Irish and international quality press: RTE, The Irish Times, Irish Examiner, The 42 and The Hockey Paper.