The Indian women's team will start its campaign in the Hockey World Cup 2026 on Sunday (16 August). He faces a tough challenge from China in the very first match. The Chinese team, the silver medalist of the Paris Olympics 2024, is at the second position in the world rankings, while the Indian team captained by Salima Tete is at the 9th position. This match against China is very important for Team India. India will also face China in the Asian Games next month. In such a situation, the confident Indian team would like to boost its morale by performing well in this match.
India is in trouble in the group
Apart from China, India has to play England and South Africa in Group D. This is considered to be the most difficult group of the World Cup. Every match is important in this World Cup being played in the new format. The Indian team, which arrived here a long time ago to acclimatise itself to the European conditions, took part in rigorous practice sessions at the Wagner Stadium amid the scorching heat and also played a practice match against the Netherlands. India's best performance in the World Cup came in the first edition in 1974 in France, when the Ajinder Kaur-led team finished fourth.
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First World Cup of 11 players
The Indian team, which has played only 8 out of 15 World Cups so far, was ranked 9th in 2022. This time, this will be the first World Cup of 11 players in the team captained by Salima Tete, but there is no lack of experience in the team. Goalkeeper Savita, who has been a part of three World Cups, two Olympics and three Asian Games, is the most experienced player of the tournament with 313 international matches. Whereas defender Sushila Chanu has played 262 matches, while Navneet Kaur (211), Nikki Pradhan (207) and Neha Goyal (202) have also played more than 200 matches.
Savita said before the match, 'The pain of missing the medal in Tokyo Olympics 2020 by coming very close is still there. This time we will not take any care. Whether someone has expectations from us or not, we have high expectations from ourselves and we also want to finish on the podium.
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How is India's recent form?
The Indian team has raised hopes by performing well in three big tournaments in the last one year. The players' morale has been boosted by the return to the Pro-League through the title win in the FIH Nations Cup in New Zealand. Drag Flicker Deepika returned to great form after recovering from injury and scored 6 goals in the tournament. The team's performance in the Asia Cup was also excellent. After this, the Indian team reached the finals in the World Cup Qualifier in Hyderabad with 3 wins and 1 draw. Even though Team India lost 0-2 to England in the final, it had secured the World Cup ticket. Striker Navneet Kaur will once again have a big responsibility. She scored six goals in the Asia Cup and was the 'Player of the Tournament' by scoring four goals in the Olympic Qualifiers.
Coach Sjoerd Marin is confident that his team will live up to the expectations and face all the challenges boldly. The Dutch coach said, 'We are considering the World Cup as the next step after the FIH Nations Cup. This team is full of confidence and is ready to face the upcoming challenges.
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Team India's fitness has improved
Marin, who led the team to fourth place in the Tokyo Olympics, is accompanied by an experienced support staff like Wayne Lombard (Head of Athlete Performance), Mathias Villa (Analysis Coach), Taike Takema (Drag Flick Consultant), Rode and Kiara Yilla (Sports Science Consultant), which has significantly improved the fitness levels of the Indian team. China, on the other hand, apart from winning the silver medal in the Paris Olympics, has finished fourth in the last two Pro-League seasons. By defeating India, they won the 2025 Asia Cup for the first time in 16 years.
The credit record of China's miraculous performance goes to Australia's Alison Annan, who has been FIH's best coach six times, who has led the Netherlands to gold medals in the World Cup and Tokyo Olympics in 2018. The challenge will not be easy for the Indian team but performing well against China will boost its morale, which can also give it a psychological edge for the Asian Games.