Ireland's women's hockey team will head to the World Cup without star goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran, who has been ruled out through injury. McFerran, named Goalkeeper of the Tournament in 2018 when Ireland won silver, is a significant loss for head coach Gareth Grundie's side as they aim for their third consecutive World Cup appearance. Lizzy Murphy and Holly Micklem have been named in her place, giving them their first opportunity to represent Ireland in goal at a major tournament.

Grundie has named a 20-player squad to travel to Wavre, Belgium, where 12th-ranked Ireland will play Spain, New Zealand and Belgium in Pool C between 16 and 20 August. A top-two pool finish would send them into Pool E with a chance of reaching the semi-finals, while finishing third or fourth would mean classification matches from Pool H. Separately, Ireland's men, ranked 10th and making their first World Cup appearance since 2018, have named an unchanged squad from their qualification campaign and will face Australia, South Africa and Spain, also in Pool C.