FIH Junior World Ranking: 3

How they qualified: 2nd place – FIH Hockey Junior World Cup South Africa 2022

Junior World Cup history: 2022 – 2nd, 2016 – 5th, 2013 – 10th, 2009 – 6th, 2005 – 2nd, 2001 – 7th, 1997 – 4th, 1993 – 3rd, 1989 – 1st

The performances of Germany’s junior women over the past two years have been eye-catching. They claimed an impressive silver medal at the FIH Hockey Junior World Cup South Africa 2022, falling only at the final hurdle against the Netherlands (3-1) after beating Malaysia (10-0), Wales (2-1), Argentina (4-1) and England 8-0). Germany continued their excellent form at the EuroHockey Junior Championship 2022 in Ghent, Belgium later in the year, beating Scotland (6-0), England (2-1) and Ireland (7-0) in the pool phase before battling to shoot-out wins over semi-final opponents the Netherlands (1-1, 3-2 SO) and Belgium (1-1, 4-3 SO) in the gold medal game. Head coach Akim Bouchouchi is the mastermind behind Germany’s recent successes, and his team should feel confident about their chances of success at Santiago 2023. The team is captained by Lilly Stoffelsma, who scored five times in Germany’s title-winning run at the EuroHockey Junior Championship 2022. Carolin Seidel is another player to keep an eye on, having netted three goals to help Germany win a four nations competition in August that featured India, Spain, and England.