Santa Fe 2026: Las Leonas begin their Games campaign before home fans | OneFootball

Just two weeks after being crowned in Amstelveen on August 29, the Argentina women’s national field hockey team, Las Leonas, begins its journey at the Santa Fe 2026 South American Games. The national team’s debut is scheduled for this Monday, September 14, against Paraguay at the Santa Fe Hockey Association Stadium.

The return of the world champions

Head coach Juan Martín López —gold medalist with Los Leones at Rio 2016 and head coach of Las Leoncitas since 2023— has put together a squad of 18 top-level players. The roster relies heavily on the core group that earned the country its third world title, featuring seven key names from that triumph:

Sofía Cairó: Notable for scoring the decisive 3-1 in the shootout against the Netherlands.

As an added highlight, the trio of Cairó, Casas, and Díaz arrives in the city of Santa Fe after also winning the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The Albiceleste roster is rounded out by Sol Pagella, Daiana Pacheco, Pilar Palacio, Chiara Ambrosini, Victoria Falasco, Catalina Andrade, Lourdes Pisthon, Sol Guignet, and Pilar Pisthon, while Paula Santamarina and Ana Dodorico are listed as reserves.

Competition format and schedule

The women’s competition follows the same format as the men’s tournament. It consists of a single group made up of five national teams (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay) that will face each other in a round-robin format. The two delegations with the best point totals will qualify directly for the gold medal match.

Las Leonas’ match schedule in the regular phase is as follows:

If they meet expectations and finish in the top two, Argentina will play the final on Tuesday, September 22, at the same venue in Santa Fe.

The history of Las Leonas at the ODESUR Games

The Argentine team boasts a highly favorable record in the history of the tournament, having won the gold medal in Buenos Aires 2006, Santiago 2014, and Cochabamba 2018. In the most recent edition, Asunción 2022, the delegation took home the silver medal, noting that the sport was not part of the program in Medellín 2010.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.