Las Leonas Are Back: World Champions Resume Training as Pro League Countdown Starts
The world champions are back to work. Las Leonas resumed training at CENARD on 21 October, two months after lifting the World Cup, and the rebuild toward the next cycle has officially started.
Head coach Fernando Ferrara has called in a 35-player group. The familiar names are all there: Agustina Gorzelany, the Granatto sisters, Valentina Raposo, Sofia Cairo, Cristina Cosentino. It’s a blend of the World Cup core and the next wave, which is exactly what you want to see this far out from LA 2028.
The target is clear. The FIH Pro League 2026–27 opens in Córdoba at the Estadio Soledad García, with Argentina’s women facing Great Britain and China in the opening block. Six days of matches to start a 144-game season, and the winners get a direct route to the Olympics. No easing back in.
What’s interesting is the timing. Most World Cup-winning squads take a longer exhale. Argentina have given themselves barely two months before the next campaign starts, which tells you how seriously they take the Pro League as an Olympic pathway rather than a glorified friendly series.
The men’s side, Los Leones, open against Great Britain and France in the same Córdoba block. December is going to be a serious month for Argentine hockey.
Our take
This is the right call. The World Cup glow fades fast, and the teams that stay on top are the ones that start the next cycle before the celebrations end. A 35-player group this early says Ferrara is already thinking about depth for a long season, not just picking the heroes of August again.
More Argentine hockey: Metropolitano Fecha 10 results, the FIH rankings, and Latest News.
