Hockey Stars Awards 2026: The Winners Get Named in Doha on Friday

The votes closed on 30 September. On Friday, in Doha, we find out if the voters got it right.

The winners of the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2026 will be revealed during the 50th FIH Congress in Doha, Qatar, on 23 October, as part of the FIH Award Ceremony built into Congress week. The shortlists were picked by a global expert panel working off every international match played in 2026 — Pro League, World Cup Qualifiers, Nations Cups and the World Cup itself — and the public vote, captains, media and experts have all had their say since.

The big one: Player of the Year

On the men’s side it’s a three-way fight with goals all over it. Belgium’s Tom Boon, one of the Euro Hockey League’s all-time top scorers with Royal Léopold, is up against Germany’s Justus Weigand, who won World Cup gold and also helped Hamburger Polo Club to a maiden German title, and Argentina’s Tomi Domene, the World Cup’s top scorer and a Belgian title winner with Waterloo Ducks.

Hard to split them, honestly. Boon is the career body of work, Weigand had the gold medal, Domene had the tournament. For our money, a World Cup top scorer who also won his club league usually takes these home.

The women’s shortlist is Xan de Waard of the Netherlands, Belgium’s Charlotte Englebert of Den Bosch, and Argentina’s Sofia Cairo. De Waard’s case is emotional as well as sporting: she signed off her club career with SCHC’s first EHL Women title last Easter, helped the Dutch win the Pro League and reach the World Cup final in the summer, then retired from professional hockey. Awards panels love a farewell story, but Englebert’s year with Den Bosch and Belgium gives them a real alternative.

Keepers and kids

The goalkeeper lists are stacked the way they should be. Women: Anne Veenendaal (Netherlands, AH&BC Amsterdam), Jocelyn Bartram (Australia) and Cristina Cosentino (Argentina). Men: Jean-Paul Danneberg (Germany, Rot-Weiss Köln), Vincent Vanasch (Belgium, Orée) and Luis Calzado (Spain, Kampong).

The men’s Rising Star shortlist is a Rot-Weiss Köln party: Jakob Brilla and Justus Warweg, both of Köln and Germany, against France’s Malo Martinache, who starred for Lille’s championship side before moving to Gantoise. On the women’s side, Waterloo Ducks’ Famke Van Heel is among the nominees.

Coach of the Year and Umpire of the Year aren’t public votes — the experts decide the coaches, the FIH Umpiring Committee decides the umpires — so those two are the genuine coin flips of the night.

Friday’s ceremony is also a marker for where the game is. A World Cup year always scrambles these awards, because one hot August can outweigh eleven steady months. We’ll publish the full winners list on SportsCursor as soon as it’s announced in Doha.