New Delhi: The Indian women's hockey team has achieved a historic performance and secured fifth place in the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup 2026. For this wonderful achievement, Hockey India has announced a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh for the team.
In the tournament held in Belgium and Netherlands, the Salima Tete-led Indian team defeated world number five Germany 3-1 in the 5th/6th place classification match played in Amstelveen on Thursday. With this victory, India gave its best performance so far in the World Cup.
India's best performance in the World Cup after 1974
The Indian women's team's previous best performance in the World Cup was fourth place in 1974. After this, reaching fifth place in 2026 is India's best result in the tournament.
The team lost only one match in the entire campaign. Indian players showcased their ability by playing draws against higher ranked teams like China, England and Australia. Apart from this, the team registered a spectacular victory of 6-1 against South Africa.
The campaign ended with India defeating Germany under the guidance of head coach Sjoerd Marin.
Hockey India announced a prize of Rs 50 lakh
After the historic achievement, Hockey India President Dr. Dilip Tirkey announced a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh for the team.
Congratulating the team, he said that this is a historic result for Indian women's hockey. According to him, reaching fifth place in the World Cup after 52 years is a testament to the team's hard work, courage and fighting spirit shown throughout the tournament.
Dr. Tirkey expressed hope that this award will motivate the players to further raise the level of their performance.
Indian team stood firm against the world's strongest teams
Hockey India General Secretary Bhola Nath Singh also praised the performance of Salima Tete and her team. He said that the team faced some of the best teams in the world during its campaign and made its place firmly.
He said that through the award of Rs 50 lakh, Hockey India wants to honor the commitment and hard work of the players. Also expressed hope that this achievement and award will motivate the team for further goals.
Now the team's focus will be on Asian Games
After achieving a historic fifth place in the World Cup, the next big target of the Indian women's hockey team will be the Asian Games. Hockey India hopes that this performance in the World Cup will further strengthen the confidence of the players and they will perform better in the upcoming competitions also.
The 2026 World Cup campaign was also special for the Indian women's team as it gave a tough challenge to the higher-ranked teams and finished the tournament with only one loss.
Also read: The atmosphere of the women's hockey team has changed: India in top-5 of World Cup after 52 years