Germany’s precision saw them win the women’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship for the 18th time and the third in succession as they defeated Czechia 5-2 in Prague.
It crowned an amazing weekend of resilience and belief for the side who were on the brink of elimination in the group stages but summoned amazing comebacks against both Belgium and Spain to reach this decider.
And they showed their mettle once again in the final to see off the first-time finalists who had their own fairytale story, stunning Austria with two goals in the last 45 seconds of Saturday’s semi-final.
Natálie Hájková put the hosts in front to the delight of the home crowd packed into the UNYP Arena, firing in from the penalty spot in the second minute.
Germany fought back and got over the disappointment of a missed stroke of their own to draw level before the end of Q1 via Philine Drumm.
Picture: Will Palmer/World Sport Pics
And they went ahead via the same method in the 17th minute through Charlotte Gerstenhöfer, her powerful flick down the middle channel making it 2-1. It remained that way to half-time when Julia Sonntag stood tall to block out Kateřina Laciná and Nikola Babická.
The third goal came courtesy of the press which has served Germany so well this weekend, Gerstenhöfer stealing possession off the Czech defence on the edge of the circle and flicking in on her backhand.
Charlotte Hendrix made it 4-1 when she chased down a long ball into the corner, robbed the ball and slipped in another. And, fittingly, captain Fenja Poppe – the hero of the semi-final – completed the scoring with a final minute corner for the fifth goal.
Czechia did get one back on the final hooter but too late to affect the destination of the title
Kern calm amid chaos for Austrian bronze
Laura Kern’s calmly taken goal with just three seconds remaining saw Austria win the bronze medal for a third time – the others in 1998 and 2024 – as they broke Spanish hearts with a 3-2 victory.
It came following a tense third place battle in which Spain made more of the chances but the red foxes shaded the key moments to take the medals.
Johanna Buchleitner book-ended the scoring in the first half. She broke the deadlock when Austria recycled possession from an initial save and set her up for a smart finish.
Mar Sola equalised when her shot took a heavy deflection off a defensive stick but Buchleitner restored the red foxes lead before the big break from a high quality penalty corner.
It was 2-2 when Clara Ycart produced another piece of outstanding individual skill, dancing through tackles before slipping home a great low shot.
Spain then made most of the play in the final quarter but were not able to find a breakthrough, hitting the post and seeing a couple of corners charged down.
But Austria summoned one last attack of the game with Daria Buchta finding Kern who slotted home and leave Spain out on their feet.
Belgium equal best finish as Swiss and Irish win
Belgium produced their best finish since 1977 as their 4-3 win over Ukraine secured fifth place overall. They left it late with Daphne Gose-Claessens and France De Mot scoring in the last three minutes to break a 2-2 tie and while Anna Tanchenko got one back soon after, it was not enough to change the destination of the result.
A hat trick from Nele Pöhler earned Switzerland seventh place overall, their best finish since 2018, as they came back from 3-2 down to defeat Poland 4-3.
The first time ended 2-2 with Hanna Wochna scoring twice for the Poles and they led via Marta Czujewicz but the Swiss turned things around in Q3 via Pöhler.
Ireland won their first game in the top division since 1990 when they won a corner battle against Lithuania 3-1. Caroline Spence scored twice from set pieces with Chloe Brown getting one to outdo Dovilė Kuklienė’s effort before half-time, earning ninth place.
Player of the tournament: Marta Grau (Spain)
Best goalkeeper: Barbora Čecháková (Czechia)
Top goalscorer: Karyna Leonova (Ukraine)
Under-21 Talent: Katharina Proksch (Austria)
Women’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship 2026 – final rankings
1. Germany
2. Czechia
3. Austria
4. Spain
5. Belgium
6. Ukraine
7. Switzerland
8. Poland
9. Ireland – relegated to Championship II for 2028
10. Lithuania – relegated to Championship II for 2028
