SA hopes rest on women’s indoor hockey team at World Cup in Croatia

The South African women’s indoor hockey team is poised for a formidable challenge as they embark on their journey in the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup 2025, set to unfold in Croatia. The team, which achieved a remarkable fourth-place finish on home turf last year, faces a high-stakes group round that could lead to an extra African slot in the next tournament — an incentive that adds further intensity to their quest for glory.

The 2023 semi-finalists start their campaign on Monday with a tough tie against Thailand at the Zatika Sports Centre in Porec. The other teams in the group are Poland and Austria.

With the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Croatia 2025 bursting into action on 3 Feb, here's a quick refresher on the Indoor Hockey Format and the key differences compared to outdoor hockey! 👇#IHWC2025

— International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) January 31, 2025

“Our pool is really, really difficult,” said SA coach AJ Spieringshoek.

“We’ve got Thailand, the Asian champions, and we’ve got Austria and Poland. Both of them finished third and second at the last Euro Champs; lots of experience, lots of indoor hockey knowledge and players that specialise in the game, so we’ve got our work cut out.

“We’re not thinking about quarter-finals or anything like that because there’s a reality that one of the teams in our pool, or one of the top teams that could potentially make the semi-final, potentially doesn’t make it out of the group just because of the strength of our pool ...

“There are a lot of unknowns but you know what you can expect from the likes of Germany, Austria and Poland. How you execute against them is the key part, so we’re quite excited to see how we do against those teams and we’re hoping that we can out on a show for South Africa … I think everyone’s raring to go.”

The South African team road a wave of passionate home support to the semis in Pretoria at the last World Cup. They lost out on the bronze to the Czech Republic. The recently appointed coach is not ruling out another surprise run in Croatia.

“It was obviously a really, really special World Cup for us, coming fourth. We genuinely thought we could get a medal there but unfortunately we didn’t,” he said.

“Finishing fourth was a massive achievement for the team and I think there’s a strong belief that we can match it and go better than that, but it’s going to require a lot of hard work.”

Spieringshoek expects some of the sport’s traditional powerhouses to again mount a strong challenge. The Netherlands are the defending champions, after they beat Austria in the final in Pretoria.

The SA men’s team are also fired up for their opening match against the hosts on Monday. They are in a tough pool that also features defending champions Austria and Poland.