Hockey World Cup: The Indian team has faced defeat in the second match of the Hockey World Cup 2026. At one time the Indian team had the match in hand and the score was 2-1. Team India also maintained pressure on England in the first half. But the story completely changed in the second half. England dashed India’s hopes of a comeback by scoring three consecutive goals and won 4-2 in the Pool D match of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026.
In the match played on August 17 at the Wegener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, India took the lead after a brilliant start, but England took the lead in the last two quarters by taking better advantage of their opportunities. For England, Nicholas Bandurak scored two goals, while Stuart Rushmeyer and Henry Croft scored one goal each. For India, captain Harmanpreet Singh converted the penalty corner, while Dilpreet Singh completed a brilliant move.
India’s dominance visible in the first half
The match started at a fast pace. In the seventh minute, Jarmanpreet Singh had a good chance to score, but his shot went out of the target. After this, England opened the account in the 14th minute. A brilliant aerial pass stunned the Indian defense and Bandurak capitalized on the opportunity to put the team ahead 1-0.
India equalized at the beginning of the second quarter. After getting a penalty corner, Harmanpreet made a strong flick and sent the ball into the upper left corner of the goal. After a few minutes, India also took the lead. Hardik Singh passed the ball from the baseline to Abhishek and Dilpreet converted Abhishek’s pass into a goal and made the score 2-1. India was ahead till half time and the team had taken eight shots on goal compared to England’s three.
The match turned in the second half
England made a strong comeback in the third quarter. In the 39th minute, Stuart Rushmeyer made the score 2-2 by passing the ball past Indian goalkeeper Mohith with a reverse stick. After this, in the 43rd minute, Henry Croft gave England a 3-2 lead with a sharp hit. This was his first goal in the World Cup.
India made several attempts to equalize, but England’s defense did not allow them success. In the 55th minute, Bandurak scored his second goal through a brilliant low flick from a penalty corner and increased England’s lead to 4–2. With this defeat, the position of Pool D has become very important for India. England are on top with 6 points with two wins from two matches and have reached the next stage. India is in second place with one win and one loss. Now India’s last pool match is against Pakistan and to remain in the race for the semi-finals, Harmanpreet Singh’s team will have to win this match at any cost. Pakistan and Wales have one point each after two matches.