Ireland women's and men's hockey teams both drawn to Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifying groups in Valencia

There are two locations for the women’s FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers – Ranchi in India and Spain’s Valencia – with eight nations competing for three slots in each group to join the five countries that booked their spot through the continental championships and hosts France.

Ireland head coach Sean Dancer has welcomed the draw going in their favour with Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Korea, Canada, Malaysia and Ukraine providing the opposition as they aim to qualify for a second consecutive Games after making it through the same route to Tokyo.

"I'm happy it's Spain but both tournaments were always going to be challenging,” Dancer told BBC Sport NI. "Going to India would have created logistics and a tough tournament.

"Look, there's no easy tournament to qualify for the Olympics, finishing in the top three out of eight.

"We're going to have to beat teams ranked above us and that's an excellent challenge for us to try and step up to.

"We'll try and focus on ourselves, make sure we play our style of game and be ready for those key moments when they arise.

"We are excited now, at least we know where we're going and what we have to do."

The men have been drawn against Belgium, Spain, Republic of Korea, Japan, Austria, Egypt and Ukraine with eight other teams battling it out in Muscat, Oman.

Head coach Mark Tumilty hopes there will be a healthy Irish support in attendance with both teams playing in the same location.

"Hopefully we can have a reasonable following at the games,” he said. “I think both tournaments are as competitive, but the fact that we're in Spain is definitely beneficial to ourselves.

"The progress we've made in the last 12 months definitely gives us a reasonable opportunity to make it to Paris but it will be tough.

"Both the men and women have significant challenges to qualify but I think both are capable and I agree 100% that if Ireland could get the men and women to the Olympics, we then need to grow the game from there.”