1981 Women's Hockey World Cup

The 1981 Women's Hockey World Cup was the fourth edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from the 27 March to 5 April 1981 at the CeNARD in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

West Germany won the tournament for a second time, defeating the Netherlands 3–1 in penalties after the final finished as a 1–1 draw. The Soviet Union finished in third place after defeating Australia 5–1.

Teams
Including the host nation, Argentina, 12 teams participated in the tournament:



Medallists
The following are the squads of the three medalling nations, as well as fourth placed Australia:

1. Silke Birkenfeld

2. Susanne Schmid (GK)

3. Gudrun Neumann

4. Christina Moser

5. Elke Drüll

6. Ingrid Bruckert-Redmer

7. Birgit Hagen (C)

8. Gabriele Appel

9. Stefanie Burger

10. Corinna Lingnau

11. Martina Koch

12. Karen Haude

13. Sigrid Landgraf

14. Eva Pagels

15. Doris Manthei

16. Dorothea Marx

1. Bernadette de Beus (GK)

2. Toos Bax

3. Margriet Zegers

4. Margriet Bleijerveld

5. Marjolein Bolhuis-Eijsvogel (C)

6. Fieke Boekhorst

7. Anneke Bax

8. Sandra Le Poole

9. Elsemieke Hillen

10. Sophie von Weiler

11. Annelies Kapten

12. Irene Hendriks

13. Lisette Sevens (C)

14. Vib Ramaer

15. José Poelmans

16. Madelon Beliën

1. Galina Inzhuvatova (GK)

2. Larisa Chizhik

3. Tatiana Chotchayeva

4. Nadezhda Filippova

5. Natella Krasnikova (C)

6. Natalia Bykova

7. Lidiya Glubokova

8. Natalia Buzunova

9. Galina Konyukhova

10. Nadezhda Gulyaeva

11. Leyla Akhmerova

12. Nelli Gorbatkova

13. Lyudmila Frolova

14. Nadezhda Ovechikna

15. Tatyana Shvyganova

16. Valentina Zazdravnkyh

1. Kym Ireland (GK)

2. Robyn Morrison

3. Pamela Glossop

4. Adele Boyce

5. Lorraine Hillas

6. Robyn Leggatt

7. Sandra Pisani

8. Sharyn Simpson

9. Susan Watkins

10. Diane Gorman (C)

11. Sharon Buchanan

12. Colleen Pearce

13. Kerry Wharton

14. Julene Grant

15. Janette McCloud

16. Susan Skirrow

Final standings
As per statistical convention in field hockey, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.