De Waard and Veenendaal are in the running for the FIH Award 2026

De Waard faces competition for the prestigious hockey award from Argentina’s Sofia Cairo and Belgium’s Charlotte Englebert. The SCHC midfielder finished second with the Dutch women’s team at this summer’s World Cup, held in the Netherlands and Belgium, after losing a shoot-out in the final against Argentina. It was the final international tournament of De Waard’s impressive elite sporting career; she has been nominated for an FIH Award for the fifth time and has won the prize twice before: in 2023 and 2025.

Englebert, who plays for Den Bosch in the Staatsloterij Hoofdklasse, reached the semi-finals of that same World Cup with Belgium. The Red Panthers finished third, after beating Australia in the third-place play-off. It was the Belgian women’s best-ever performance at a World Cup. The technically skilful midfielder Cairo won the world title with Argentina, their first since 2010.

Veenendaal in the running for the goalkeeping award
Anne Veenendaal is in the running for the Best Goalkeeper of the Year award. The Amsterdam-based international is up against Australia’s Jocelyn Bartram and Argentina’s Cristina Cosentino, Cairo’s team-mate. Veenendaal has been in the running for the individual award three times before (in 2017, 2024 and 2025), but has never won it.

No Dutch internationals have been nominated in the men’s category. There, Belgium’s Tom Boon, Argentina’s Tomas Domene and Germany’s Justus Weigand are in contention for the Best Player award. Luis Calzado (Spain), Jean-Paul Danneberg (Germany) and Vincent Vanasch (Belgium) are in the running for the title of FIH Goalkeeper of the Year.

In total, the International Hockey Federation has nominated eighteen players, divided across six categories. As with the men’s category, no Dutch internationals have been nominated for the Rising Star Award – the prize for the most promising talent.

The candidates were selected by an international panel consisting mainly of national team coaches, supplemented by former internationals and experienced television commentators. In making their assessments, they were able to draw on data from all international matches played in 2026.

The recent World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands carried significant weight in this regard. Fifteen of the eighteen nominees reached the last four of the global tournament with their respective countries. Hockey fans can cast their votes until 23.59 on Wednesday 30 September. National team coaches, national team captains, players and media representatives also have a say in the vote.

Cast your vote here for the 2026 FIH Awards

All nominees

FIH Player of the Year

• Women: Sofia Cairo (Argentina), Xan de Waard (Netherlands), Charlotte Englebert (Belgium)
• Men: Tom Boon (Belgium), Tomas Domene (Argentina), Justus Weigand (Germany)

FIH Goalkeeper of the Year

• Women: Jocelyn Bartram (Australia), Cristina Cosentino (Argentina), Anne Veenendaal (Netherlands)
• Men: Luis Calzado (Spain), Jean-Paul Danneberg (Germany), Vincent Vanasch (Belgium)

FIH Rising Star of the Year

• Women: Claire Colwill (Australia), Zoe Diaz (Argentina), Famke van Heel (Belgium)
• Men: Jakob Brilla (Germany), Malo Martinache (France), Justus Warweg (Germany)