# 1978 Women's Hockey World Cup

The 1978 Women's Hockey World Cup was the third edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup. It took place from 17 to 24 September in Madrid, Spain.
The Netherlands won the title for the second time, defeating West Germany 1–0 in the final.

## Results
### Preliminary round
#### Pool A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | West Germany | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | +21 | 8 | Advanced to Semi-finals |
| 2 | Belgium | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | Advanced to Semi-finals |
| 3 | Spain | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 4 | |
| 4 | Japan | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 4 | |
| 5 | Nigeria | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 18 | −15 | 0 | |
* 16 September 1978 11:00
| Nigeria | 1–5 | Spain |
| | Report | |
* 16 September 1978 15:00
| West Germany | 1–0 | Belgium |
| | Report | |
* 17 September 1978 13:00
| Spain | 2–1 | Japan |
| | Report | |
* 17 September 1978 15:00
| Nigeria | 1–10 | West Germany |
| | Report | |
* 19 September 1978 13:00
| Belgium | 1–0 | Nigeria |
| | Report | |
* 19 September 1978 17:00
| Japan | 0–4 | West Germany |
| | Report | |
* 20 September 1978 11:00
| Japan | 2–1 | Nigeria |
| | Report | |
* 20 September 1978 13:00
| Spain | 0–1 | Belgium |
| | Report | |
* 21 September 1978 15:00
| Belgium | 2–3 | Japan |
| | Report | |
* 21 September 1978 17:00
| West Germany | 7–0 | Spain |
| | Report | |
* The following match was contested to determine second and third place in the pool.
* 22 September 1978 13:00
| Belgium | 2–0 | Spain |
| | Report | |

#### Pool B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Netherlands | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 | +12 | 8 | Advanced to Semi-finals |
| 2 | Argentina | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | Advanced to Semi-finals |
| 3 | India | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 3 | |
| 4 | Canada | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 3 | |
| 5 | Czechoslovakia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 0 | |
* 16 September 1978 13:00
| Argentina | 1–0 | Canada |
| | Report | |
* 16 September 1978 17:00
| Netherlands | 4–1 | India |
| | Report | |
* 17 September 1978 11:00
| India | 1–2 | Argentina |
| | Report | |
* 17 September 1978 17:00
| Czechoslovakia | 1–3 | Netherlands |
| | Report | |
* 19 September 1978 11:00
| Argentina | 2–1 | Czechoslovakia |
| | Report | |
* 19 September 1978 15:00
| Canada | 1–1 | India |
| | Report | |
* 20 September 1978 13:00
| Canada | 0–6 | Netherlands |
| | Report | |
* 20 September 1978 17:00
| India | 1–0 | Czechoslovakia |
| | Report | |
* 21 September 1978 11:00
| Netherlands | 2–1 | Argentina |
| | Report | |
* 21 September 1978 13:00
| Czechoslovakia | 0–3 | Canada |
| | Report | |

### Classification round
#### Ninth and tenth place

* 23 September 1978 09:00
| Nigeria | 0–4 | Czechoslovakia |
| | Report | |

#### Fifth to eighth place classification

| Crossover | Crossover | Fifth Place | Fifth Place |
| 23 September 1978 | 23 September 1978 |
| Spain | 0 |
| Spain | 0 | 24 September 1978 | 24 September 1978 |
| Canada | 3 | 24 September 1978 | 24 September 1978 |
| Canada | 3 | Canada | 4 |
| 23 September 1978 | 23 September 1978 | | Canada | 4 |
| 23 September 1978 | 23 September 1978 | Japan | 0 |
| India | 0 | Japan | 0 |
| Japan | 3 | | |
| Japan | 3 | Seventh Place | Seventh Place |
| | | 24 September 1978 | 24 September 1978 |
| | | Spain | 0 |
| | | India | 1 |

##### Crossover

* 23 September 1978 11:00
| India | 0–3 | Japan |
| | Report | |
* 23 September 1978 11:00
| Spain | 0–3 | Canada |
| | Report | |

##### Seventh and eighth place

* 24 September 1978 11:00
| Spain | 0–1 | India |
| | Report | |

##### Fifth and sixth place

* 24 September 1978 11:00
| Canada | 4–0 | Japan |
| | Report | |

#### First to fourth place classification

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 23 September 1978 | 23 September 1978 |
| West Germany | 1 |
| West Germany | 1 | 24 September 1978 | 24 September 1978 |
| Argentina | 0 | 24 September 1978 | 24 September 1978 |
| Argentina | 0 | West Germany | 0 |
| 23 September 1978 | 23 September 1978 | | West Germany | 0 |
| 23 September 1978 | 23 September 1978 | Netherlands | 1 |
| Netherlands | 6 | Netherlands | 1 |
| Belgium | 0 | | |
| Belgium | 0 | Third Place | Third Place |
| | | 24 September 1978 | 24 September 1978 |
| | | Argentina | 0 |
| | | Belgium | 0 |

##### Semi-finals

* 23 September 1978 15:00
| Netherlands | 6–0 | Belgium |
| | Report | |
* 23 September 1978 15:00
| West Germany | 1–0 | Argentina |
| | Report | |

##### Third and fourth place

* 24 September 1978 15:00
| Argentina | 0–0 (a.e.t.) | Belgium |
| | Report | |

##### Final

* 24 September 1978 17:00
| West Germany | 0–1 | Netherlands |
| | Report | |
* 1978 Women's Hockey World Cup winner
* Netherlands Second title

## Winning squad

Netherlands
* Toos Bax
* Suzan Bekker
* Madelon Belien
* Margriet Bleyerveld
* Fieke Boekhorst
* Bernadette de Beus
* Irene Hendriks
* Elsemiek Hillen
* Sandra Le Poole
* Julien Mahler
* Maria Mattheussen-Fikkers
* Lisette Sevens
* Anneke van Puffelen
* Nel van Kollenburg
* Sophie van Weiler
* Cathy Woudenberg-Schroder

## Statistics
### Final standings

As per statistical convention in field hockey, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| | B | Netherlands | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 3 | +19 | 18 | Gold Medal |
| | A | West Germany | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 2 | +21 | 15 | Silver Medal |
| | B | Argentina | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 10 | Bronze Medal |
| | A | Belgium | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 10 | Bronze Medal |
| 5 | B | Canada | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 10 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 6 | A | Japan | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 9 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 7 | B | India | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 7 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 8 | A | Spain | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 6 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 9 | B | Czechoslovakia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 3 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 10 | A | Nigeria | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 22 | −19 | 0 | Eliminated in group stage |