16th August 2022, Brussels, Belgium: The 2022 EuroHockey Qualifiers get underway tomorrow, with the first of eight events getting started in Vilnius, Lithuania.
In the leadup to the 2021 EuroHockey Championships in Amstelveen, the EHF announced that qualification for the 2023 EuroHockey Championships in Monchengladbach would have a different format! In order to pre-qualify only the top 4 teams (men and women) in 2021 would have an automatic berth and the 4 other places would be determined via a qualification event this year.
The format:
Over the coming two weeks, all eight qualification slots will be filled, via events in Vilnius (w) 17th – 20th August; Ourense (m) 17th – 20th August; Dublin (w) 18th – 21st August; Vienna (m) 23rd – 26th August; Dunkirk (w) 24th – 27th August; Calais (m) 24th – 27th August; Glasgow (m) 24th – 27th August and finally Durham (w) 25th – 28th August.
All events (apart from Vilnius which has 3 teams and a final) will be played in a round-robin format, with the winner being determined by winning the one pool event.
The lineups:
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier C 2022 Women, Vilnius, Lithuania, 17 – 20 Aug 2022
In Vilnius, Lithuania (WR49), Italy (WR18), and Ukraine (WR28) will battle it out. Italy and Lithuania are first up and with no recent history, an unpredictable outcome! Next up is Ukraine v Italy and their most recent battle was in 2017 with a 2-3 win for Italy. The final game before the final is Lithuania v Ukraine, their recent test game (in 2021) saw Ukraine take the honours with a 0-11 win.
Watch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
There is free entry into the venue in Vilnius.
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier A 2022 Men, Ourense, Spain, 17 – 20 Aug 2022
In Ourense, Poland (WR26), Portugal (WR44), Spain (WR8), and the Czech Republic (WR32) take to the stage. Poland and Portugal only have a 2013 record to look back on, Poland was the winner then (9-1). The Czech Republic and Portugal battled it out at the EuroHockey Championship III in 2021, Czech was the winner then 2-1. Spain will be the hot favourite at this event as they have the highest World Ranking and just missed out on an automatic slot at the 2021 EuroHockey Championship.
Watch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
There is free entry into the venue in Ourense.
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier B 2022 Women, Dublin, Ireland,18 – 21 Aug 2022
Dublin is up next with Ireland (WR13), Czech Republic (WR23), Turkey (WR33), and Poland (WR27) in the lineup. Czech and Turkey have to go back to 2019 to check their recent history, Czech got the better of Turkey 5-2 on that occasion. Ireland, following their recent below-par showing at the Women’s World Cup will be looking to dominate. They have beaten all 3 other teams in their most recent outings.
Watch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
Get tickets for the event here.
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier C 2022 Men, Vienna, Austria, 23 – 26 Aug 2022
Vienna will get underway a bit later on 23rd August and its hosts Austria (WR19), Italy (WR28) Croatia (WR47), and Ukraine (WR30) will be on display! Italy played Croatia in the EuroHockey Championship II in 2021, they played out a 4-1 win then. Austria had a tight win in 2021 v Ukraine 2-1. So the winner of this event is a close call, the hosts will be hoping that local support will be the extra ‘man’ in Vienna.
Watch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
There is free entry into the venue in Vienna.
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier B 2022 Men, Calais, France, 24 – 27 Aug 2022
Calais will get underway a day later with hosts France (WR11), Ireland (WR13), Lithuania (WR61), and Turkey (WR40) vying for that one golden ticket to Monchengladbach. Ireland v Lithuania is the opening game, they have never met each other on the international stage, but the WR would favour Ireland. On paper the most critical game of this event with be Ireland v France on the 25th – they have played each other 27 times, so plenty of history between these teams.
Watch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
Get tickets for the event here.
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier D 2022 Men, Glasgow, Scotland, 24 – 27 Aug 2022
Glasgow sees Gibraltar (WR41), hosts Scotland (WR21), Switzerland (WR35) and Wales (WR16) battle it out in Uddingston HC. Wales v Switzerland is the opening game and we have to go back to 2018 for their most recent matchup, where Wales dominated the fixture with a 7-1 win. Again it’s 2018 since Scotland faced Gibraltar, the higher ranked team won the game 2-0 to Scotland. The headline battle will be Scotland and Wales, with 13 recorded head-to-heads, there’s plenty of history between these two teams. Wales took the points with a close 2-1 win at a recent 4 nations event which was hosted in Glasgow.
Watch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
Get tickets for the event here.
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier D 2022 Women, Dunkirk, France, 24 – 27 Aug 2022
France will host a second Qualifier, this time a women’s event in Dunkirk. Scotland (WR17), Austria (WR31), France (WR25) and Switzerland (WR40) will take centre stage! Scotland v Austria is the opening game and their most recent game (EuroHockey Championship II, 2019) saw Scotland take the honours 3-0. France v Scotland is next and the Qualifier hosts will be hoping to do better than their last run out (2019) where they went down 6-0 to Scotland. Austria and Switzerland have the most history (7 international games) with Austria being the winners in a test series in 2021 (2-1).
Watch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
Ticketing information to follow
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier A 2022 Women, Durham, England, 25 – 28 Aug 2022
Our final Qualifier will take place in Durham. England (WR4), who just took gold at the Commonwealth Games will be hoping for similar performances v Wales (WR24), Croatia (WR47) and Slovakia (WR63).
Lots of first meetings in Durham! England faces Croatia in its opening game – their first meeting internationally, next up on 27th it’s Croatia v Slovakia, again their first recorded international game. Also on 27th Wales takes on England, they will be looking for a better outcome than their recent Commonwealth Games outing when England ran up a 4-0 win. The final day sees Croatia v Wales and England v Slovakia, both games are maiden international games!
Watch the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
Get tickets for the event here.
Where to watch:
All 46 games will be streamed LIVE and VOD on demand will be available following the games on www.eurohockeytv.org.
Keep updated via our social media channels:
For more information contact Siobhán Madeley (Communications@eurohockey.org)
