Following the completion of ABN AMRO EHL Women and the EuroHockey Trophy I and II tournaments last weekend, the make-up of the qualifiers for next season’s EHL is now known.

The Netherlands remains in top spot following Den Bosch’s victory last Monday while Belgium is the big movers near the top of the EHL Ranking Table courtesy of Braxgata’s silver and Gantoise’s bronze.

They jump up from fourth to second spot above Germany in third and Spain in fourth; those nations will all receive two spots each at next Easter’s FINAL12.

England and Ireland retrain one spot in EHL Women in fifth and sixth place, respectively, with their second representative set for the EuroHockey Trophy I.

Scotland, meanwhile, will have their first ever EHL Women’s side in 2026. They will move up from ninth to seventh in Ranking Table thanks to Watsonians run to the Trophy I final and Clydesdale’s bronze in Trophy II.

Czechia stay in eighth place overall and retain their place in the top tier with Ukraine the nation to miss out on a spot in EHL Women.

EHL Women 2026 – national allocations

Two teamsNetherlands, Belgium, Germany, SpainOne teamEngland, Ireland, Scotland, Czechia

The picture for the make-up of the 2026 Euro Hockey League qualifying teams has become clearer following this Easter’s ABN AMRO EHL Men and the EuroHockey Club Trophy I in Lisburn.

The full Ranking Table will be finalised following the conclusion of Trophy II in June but a number of items are already known.

The Netherlands remains in first place on the list with Belgium and England retaining second and third spot respectively. They keep the three EHL tickets that come with those positions.

Germany moves up to fourth spot and so will have a fixed spot in the FINAL8 in 2026 with their second ranked side playing in the KO16. Spain drops to fifth meaning their two sides will play in the KO16 in October.

France – courtesy of CAM 92’s gold in Lisburn – climb to sixth and add a second EHL spot for their nation.

Ireland, Austria, Scotland and Czechia are all confirmed to have one side in the top tier next season.

The remaining nation will be confirmed following Whitsun when the EuroHockey Club Trophy II will be played.

EHL Men 2025/26 – national allocations

Three teams (2 to KO16; 1 to FINAL8)Netherlands, Belgium, EnglandTwo teams (1 to KO16; 1 to FINAL8)GermanyTwo teams (2 to KO16)Spain, FranceOne team (all KO16)Ireland, Austria, Scotland, Czechia; one to be confirmed

Den Bosch were once again crowned the EHL Women champions as they proved too strong for Braxgata, winning the final with plenty of distance to spare in front of a sold out home crowd.

Frédérqiue Matla set them on their way in the seventh minute when she was found alone on the right of the circle by Maartje Krekelaar and had the time to switch the ball onto her backhand into the net.

And they were in the clear with a further pair of goals just before half-time when Stephanie Vanden Borre blocked a ball on the line with her body. Matla converted the ensuing stroke and then it was 3-0 via Krekelaar who rebounded brilliantly.

Teuntje de Wit extended the lead in the second half at the end of a pitch-length move, sweeping in Emma Bekkers cross.

Krekelaar notched another from a scrappy corner move which eventually saw Pien Sanders crack the ball across goal for a tip-in.

Brax did get one back before the end of the third quarter via Vanden Borre with a low drag-flick into the bottom right corner.

And that was how it stayed as the Belgian side fought hard to close the gap further but the Dutch giants were too far clear.

Nonetheless, it was a breakthrough for Belgium who had a first top two finish in the highest club tier since Uccle in 1979 in the old EuroHockey Club Champions Cup.

But Den Bosch remain the queens of the scene with a third title since 2021 as the home crowd went home happy.

Gantoise became the newest EHL Men’s team to write themselves into the annals of the competition’s history as they won a wild 5-2 GRAND FINAL over Bloemendaal.

With his hat trick, Alexander Hendrickx wrote himself further into folklore as the first player to score three times on such a stage and also won back-to-back titles with different clubs having scored the winner a year ago for Pinoké.

It also ended Bloemendaal’s incredible record of never losing a final in the EHL, winning all six of their previous runs to the big decider.

Hendrickx’s low corner bullet gave the Belgians the lead in the first half when they sat deep for long periods before countering at speed with Romain Duvekot and Etienne Tynevez wreaking havoc.

Guillaume Hellin made it 2-0 early in the second half but the sparrows were never going to lie down and they pulled one back when Zach Wallace poked home in the 44th minute.

The Belgians reacted brilliantly with Tynevez’s goal just beating the buzzer at the end of Q3 to extend the lead to 3-1 and then Hendrickx tacked on another from a corner.

Dennis Warmerdam deflected in to get one back with 13 minutes to go and they had the chance to cut the gap further but Marc Miralles was off target with his penalty stroke.

They also were denied another after a lengthy penalty corner review before Hendrickx made the game safe with his third corner in the closing minute.

Gantoise won a glorious bronze medal as they defeated Düsseldorfer HC with Ambre Ballenghien’s wonder goal lighting up a great performance from the Belgians.

They led almost from start to finish with Astrid Bonami opening the scoring in the sixth minute with a great touch to an even better assist from Alix Gerniers, dancing out of a tackle and delivering a backhand ball on a plate.

Alexi van Remortel added the second with a lovely piece of skill through the circle in the third quarter, a perfect dodge left and touch in around the goalkeeper.

Ballenghien then produced one of the goals of the weekend when she juggled the ball into space before unleashing a thunderbolt volley on her backhand to make it 3-0.

Lilly Stoffelsma pulled one back for Düsseldorf from a corner with eight minutes to go but they could not find another way past Pauline de Ryck, allowing Gantoise the chance to celebrate in front of thei large travelling support.

Final quarter goals from Menno Boeren and Thijs van Dam saw HC Rotterdam win their fourth EHL bronze medal and fifth in total as they saw off SV Kampong 2-0.

It provided an emotional send-off for Jeroen Hertzberger who has been part of each of those medal successes as he is set to depart the club after 22 seasons at the end of this campaign.

The game itself was a back and forth tussle throughout with precious few chances at either end. Kampong were unable to make full use of their one penalty corner in the first half while a few half chances also went abegging.

Boeren did get the breakthrough in the 47th minute when he bundled in a rebound from Hertzberger’s initial corner drag-flick.

And the game was made safe in the dying seconds by Thijs van Dam when he raced onto Pepijn van der Heijden’s through ball and tipped into an open goal.