Slovakia, Netherlands and Poland progress to final women's Olympic qualification for Milano Cortina 2026 as Great Britain go out
Slovakia, the Netherlands and Poland will compete in the final women's Olympic qualification tournament in February 2025 ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Ice Hockey
Slovakia, the Netherlands and Poland are into the final round of qualification for the Milano Cortina 2026 women’s ice hockey tournament.
The three nations won their round 2 qualifying groups on Sunday (15 December) ahead of the final qualifiers in February 2025, a year before the Olympic Winter Games.
Only one of the hosts for this stage of the qualification tournament did not progress, Group E hosts Great Britain narrowly missing out by a single point.
GB saw their hopes of reaching a first Olympics ever dashed in agonising fashion, as the Netherlands sealed a 1-0 overtime win in Sheffield to break British hearts.
Slovakia moved a step closer to a first Olympic appearance in 16 years by winning Group D. The Slovaks scored an astounding 37 goals across their three matches, capping it off with a 14-0 demolition of Slovenia.
Poland also progressed with maximum points in Group F in pursuit of their debut at a Games. They almost recorded a perfect group stage record with 19 goals scored and just one conceded, in their opening match to Chinese Taipei.
The final round of qualification for Milano Cortina 2026 will take place between 6-9 February 2025, with 12 teams divided into three round robin groups.