In the final round of the women’s group stages, Ireland have to assume that England will punch their ticket to the semi-finals when they play against Belarus, a team that has, on average, conceded a goal every five minutes in their two games in Antwerp.

It means that, to make the semi-finals, Ireland must beat Group B leaders Germany. If they don’t, they are destined for Pool C, where they will need to stay in the top two teams to avoid relegation to Division II.

That drop seemingly awaits Belarus and possibly their next door neighbours Russia, who have lost their opening two Pool A games to Spain and Belgium and now need a win over the Netherlands to jumpstart their chances of survival, having already missed out on a semi-final spot.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

The EuroHockey Championships take place every two years with men's and women's tournaments which involve the eight best teams from around the continent.

This year’s contest is being held in Antwerp, Belgium and the women's edition includes England and Ireland as they aim not only to win the coveted title but also to secure automatic qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

While the champions will be on their way to Japan, the bottom two teams will suffer relegation to the EuroHockey Championship II, and will be replaced by the top two teams from that tournament for the 2021 edition – including Scotland, who beat Italy in the final earlier in the month.

England are the only one of the home nations to have won the women's tournament, doing so in both 1991 and 2015 as hosts. Ireland have never finished higher than fifth in the women’s version of the tournament. The Dutch are the most successful team in the tournament, winning nine of the 17 editions to have taken place.

The eight teams are divided into two pools of four, who will compete in a round robin before the top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals. The bottom two teams in each group will drop into Pool C, where they will play off to avoid relegation.

Image source, Getty Images

Mark Hager’s side come into the tournament “excited for the challenge” and can call upon six of the British team that won gold in Rio in 2016.

Shona McCallin, who is one of six England players who triumphed at the Olympics, is back in action after suffering a severe concussion in February last year, while Hollie Pearne-Webb captains the side.

England finished third in 2017 and have never failed to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.

You can read more and see the full squad here.

The BBC will have live coverage of all of the home nations’ matches in both the men’s and women’s competitions, as well as the semi-finals and finals.

All of the matches will be available to watch on the BBC Sport website and app as well via the BBC iPlayer, where you can also watch the matches back on catch-up.

Clickherefor the full schedule for both the men’s and women’s matches – below is the list of women’s matches you can watch on the BBC.

Wednesday 21 August

08:50-10:30 - England v Belarus, BBC Sport online and Connected TV

11:05-12:45 - Ireland v Germany, BBC Sport online and Connected TV

Friday 23 August

16:50-18:30 - 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B, BBC Sport online and Connected TV

19:20-21:00 - 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A, BBC Sport online and Connected TV

Sunday 25 August

12:20-14:00 - Women's third-place playoff, BBC Sport online and Connected TV

14:50-16:30 - Women’s final, BBC Sport online and Connected TV

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Hockey is in some ways like football. It's an 11 a-side team game, where the aim is to score a goal in the opposing team's net.

There are different variations of the game, so hockey is for everyone, regardless of age, ability or gender. There's also a real social side, with a culture of team bonding off the field.

Play Hockey, external is a good place to start for those who are new to the game or interested in coming back to it after years away. Simply type in your postcode to locate your nearest club.