A look at winners of each Women's Hockey World Cup & how India fared

The next edition of the prestigious tournament will be in 2026.

FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup was recently concluded before the 2022 Commonwealth Games where India finished ninth. The tournament started in the year 1974 and takes place once every four years. The first six editions were held within a span of two years since then the time frame has been four years. A total of 16 countries participated in the last edition of the World Cup and a total of 29 countries have participated to date. Chile made their debut in the recently concluded World Cup.

The Netherlands won the inaugural edition and is the most successful team winning a record nine times followed by Australia (2), Germany (3), and Argentina (2). India’s best performance was finished fourth at the inaugural edition held in 1974.

List of all Women's Hockey World Cup Winners:

1974 - Netherlands

India finished fourth losing to West Germany in the playoffs.

1976 - West Germany

India did not qualify for the World Cup.

1978 - Netherlands

India finished seventh.

1981 - West Germany

India finished eleventh defeating Wales in the playoffs.

1983 - Netherlands

India finished fifth defeating the Soviet Union while hosting the event first time. 

1986 - Netherlands

India did not qualify for the World Cup.

1990 - Netherlands

India did not qualify for the World Cup.

1994 - Australia

India did not qualify for the World Cup.

1998 - Australia

India finished twelfth losing to China.

Women's Hockey World Cup winners in the 21st century:

2002 - Argentina

India did not qualify for the World Cup.

2006 - Netherlands

India finished eleventh defeating South Africa.

2010 - Argentina

India finished ninth defeating South Africa.

2014 - Netherlands

India did not qualify for the World Cup

2018 - Netherlands

India finished eighth defeating Italy

2022 - Netherlands

India finished ninth defeating Japan