Less than three weeks before the World Cup debut, Las Leonas go down to Gonnet for the final stretch of their tune-up. The particularity is not minor: to measure level, the coaching staff chose male rivals. And on the squad, two surnames who know that field by heart.
The Argentine women’s field hockey team plays two friendlies this week at the Universitario field, in Gonnet, as part of the final stretch of its preparation for the World Cup that starts on August 15 in the Netherlands and Belgium. On Wednesday at 7 p.m. they face the Universitario men’s First Division, which competes in the Metropolitan tournament, and on Thursday, at the same time, they face a team from La Plata made up of players from Universitario and Santa Bárbara. Admission is free, although with limited capacity.
The fact that generated the most enthusiasm in the preview is the presence of the sisters María José and María Victoria Granatto, both from Santa Bárbara and with extensive experience in the National Team. Majo, captain of the team, has just completed 250 international matches with the Argentine shirt. For them, playing in La Plata is not just another friendly: it is returning to the field where it all began, now as leaders of a team that seeks to fight for the world title.
The choice of male rivals as sparring partners is not new in the preparation of Las Leonas, but it does work as an indicator of the level of demand that the coaching staff, headed by Fernando Ferrara, wants to impose on this last stage. After having achieved runner-up status in the FIH Pro League 2025-26, the team resumed training at the National High Performance Sports Center and now seeks to add minutes of real friction before the first official match.
The 2026 World Cup will have Argentina joining Group B, with a high-voltage debut: on Saturday, August 15, from 12:30 p.m., against the United States. Then there will be the matches with Germany, on Monday the 17th, and with Scotland, on Wednesday the 19th. They are three important rivals that will define whether the team advances to the next stage, in a competition that will bring together the best teams in the world on the Dutch and Belgian fields.
For La Plata hockey, the visit of Las Leonas also has a local correlation. Universitario, the host club, not only lends its field: it puts its own men’s team into play, which also goes through its own Metropolitan tournament simultaneously. This double requirement—playing their championship and, at the same time, serving as a measure for the National Team—speaks of the place that Gonnet’s institution occupies within the map of Buenos Aires hockey.
The truth is that, while the team finalizes details heading to Europe, La Plata has the chance to see up close—and for free—a generation of players who will seek to repeat the success story that characterized Las Leonas for years. The appointment is in Gonnet, Wednesday and Thursday, at 7 p.m.
