After a fortnight of drama across Amstelveen and Wavre, the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 has come to a close. Together for Glory delivered exactly what it promised – heartbreak, history and no shortage of Grays Hockey brilliance along the way.
With more than 80 Grays Hockey athletes having taken to the pitch across the two tournaments, picking out just five moments was never going to be easy. But from a Golden Stick winner to a comeback for the ages, here's our countdown of the Top 5 Grays Hockey Moments from the Hockey World Cup 2026.
1. Tomas Domene Named Player Of The Tournament
There's no bigger individual honour in the game, and it belongs to a Grays Hockey Ambassador. Argentina's Tomas Domene was crowned Player of the Tournament after an electric campaign in front of goal, finishing as the World Cup's top scorer with 10 goals as Los Leones claimed bronze. Domene's blend of composure and firepower has been building for years, and on hockey's biggest stage it finally had a global audience. The stick that paired with his skillset, the JB10. A brilliant individual reward for a player who has carried Argentina's attack throughout, and a huge moment for everyone at Grays Hockey watching on.
Tomi's Kit - JB10 Hockey Stick | AeroCage X Shoes
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2. Lena Neill's Remarkable Return
Some stories go beyond the scoreline. Just six months after giving birth to her daughter Flora, Ireland's Lena Neill made her way back onto the World Cup stage – with Flora watching on from the sidelines throughout. It's a journey we covered in full here, and one that resonated well beyond the hockey world. Sleepless nights, stolen gym sessions and an enormous amount of family support later, Lena proved that becoming a mother doesn't mean putting your ambitions on hold – it can mean redefining them. One of the most special stories of this entire World Cup.
Lena's Kit - PB10 Hockey Stick | AeroCage XW Shoes
3. Vicky Sauze Strikes Gold With Argentina
While Domene led the line for the Argentina men, it was Vicky Sauze lifting the biggest prize of all with the Argentina women. A legendary midfielder and long-time Grays Hockey player, Sauze has been central to Las Leonas for over a decade, and to finish a career-defining tournament with a gold medal around her neck is the stuff dreams are made of. Argentina's celebrations at the final whistle said it all – a golden ending, with an iconic stick.
Vicky's Kit - JB10 Hockey Stick
4. Spain Stun The Hosts To Reach The Final
If there was one result that silenced a home crowd, this was it. Spain's men produced the shock of the tournament, knocking out co-hosts the Netherlands to book their place in the final and secure a brilliant silver medal. Grays Hockey's own Xavi Gispert played his part in that famous win, helping Spain topple one of the pre-tournament favourites on their own turf. Beating the Dutch at Wagener Stadium, in a World Cup they were hosting, will go down as one of the great World Cup upsets – and Grays Hockey had a front row seat.
Xavi's Kit - DB10 Hockey Stick
5. Belgium's Women Bring Home Bronze On Home Soil
Belgium may have been hosting a World Cup for the very first time, but it was the Belgium women who gave the home fans something to properly celebrate, securing third place at the brand new Belfius Hockey Arena. Grays Hockey's Delphine Marien was part of that bronze medal-winning squad, capping off a huge summer for Belgian hockey in front of their own supporters. A brilliant result for the Red Panthers, and the perfect way to send the Wavre crowds home happy.
Delphine's Kit - DB10+ Hockey Stick | AeroCage XW Shoes
Grays Hockey: Proud To Be Part Of It
From Player of the Tournament honours to gold, silver and bronze medals, this World Cup showcased Grays Hockey athletes performing on the very biggest stage – and delivering when it mattered most. Whether you followed every match from Amstelveen and Wavre or caught the highlights from home, one thing's clear: this was a World Cup to remember.
Fancy playing like the medallists? Explore the full Grays Hockey stick range and get yourself tournament-ready for the season ahead.
Here's to the next four years – same tournament, same standard, no doubt just as much drama. Let's go.
Read on to see what Vicky had to say about achieving World Cup Glory...
You've achieved silver at the last World Cup and two Olympic medals that weren't gold — what does finally winning it mean to you?
- With Argentina, we are a team that has been working incredibly hard, consistently and with great determination over many years. We have always wanted to be at the very top. At the last Olympic Games we won bronze, in Tokyo we won silver, and at the 2022 World Cup we also won silver. We had achieved so much, but we had never been able to reach the very top of the podium and win gold.
That was something we had been dreaming of, working towards and building for a very long time — with an incredible amount of dedication, passion and love for this shirt. I think that is something that really defines all of us as Argentinians.
To win the World Cup this year, to be world champions and to finally have that gold medal, is the greatest thing I have experienced in my sporting career. I dreamed about this moment for so many years, we worked for it together as a team, and personally, I also worked incredibly hard to arrive at this moment in the best possible way. To be able to achieve it at this stage of my life and my career makes it even more special. It is, without a doubt, a dream come true.
I feel an enormous sense of happiness and fulfilment. I am incredibly grateful to my teammates, to everyone in Argentina who has always supported us and followed us wherever we go, and also to myself, for all the work I know I have put in behind the scenes, together with my family and all the people who have supported me along the way.
Finally winning this gold medal is a dream fulfilled. It is the biggest achievement of my career, and I feel completely fulfilled — both as a person and as a player.
Looking back at those near-misses, what was different this time around — was it something tactical, something in the squad's mindset, or just those fine margins finally falling your way?
- Looking back at those previous finals and semi-finals, I think we suffered a lot. Every loss was painful. As Argentinians, we have an enormous amount of passion and belief, so when we don't achieve what we are fighting for, it hurts deeply. But I also believe that all of those experiences were part of the preparation that brought us to this moment, both as a team and individually. Perhaps those were steps we needed to go through in order to be ready to win the gold when the opportunity finally came.
If I had to identify what was different this time, I would say the preparation over the last two years was exceptional — physically, mentally, emotionally, technically and tactically. We worked incredibly hard on the details. We were a team with a very clear belief in what we wanted, and we were extremely united. We truly felt like a family.
At the same time, we had a group of at least ten players who had already experienced those losses, who had been in finals and on podiums without reaching the very top. Those experiences give you something that you can't learn any other way: the experience and maturity you need to be better prepared when you finally have the chance to fight for what you have dreamed of.
I think that was also a key part of this team. We had been through those moments before, and this time there was a very strong feeling within the group that we weren't going to let it slip away. We believed it was going to be ours — and, finally, we brought the World Cup home.
FIH Hockey World Cup 2026: 10 Grays Hockey Player’s Match Day Essentials
"I also want to thank Grays for always being by my side throughout this beautiful journey, supporting me every step of the way as I turned this dream into reality. I’m incredibly grateful to have shared such a special part of my career with them."
