Ireland Men miss out on last eight at Hockey World Cup following 3-1 defeat to Spain

Ireland 1 Spain 3 Dave Sihra reports from the Belfius Hockey Arena THE IRELAND MEN’S hockey team have missed out on a place in the last eight of the Hockey World Cup following a 3-1 defeat against Spain. Ireland had to avoid defeat today in order to progress, and had an early setback when Spain took the lead through Nicolas Alvarez in the first quarter. Lee Cole provided the equaliser at the start of the second quarter from a penalty stroke. — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 20, 2026 — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 20, 2026 That would have been enough to send Ireland through, but Marc Reyne struck twice for Spain in the fourth quarter to kill off Ireland’s challenge. Ireland will now prepare for the classification rounds of the tournament, where they will face France and Malaysia for rankings.