Hockey World Cup 2026: The Indian men’s hockey team, which was already out of the medal race in the Hockey World Cup 2026, faced disappointment in its last match as well. In the match played for the 7th place, India had to face defeat by 3-4 in the penalty shootout against Belgium. The match between the two teams was tied at 3-3 till the stipulated time, after which the match was decided by shootout. With this defeat, Team India ended its campaign in the tournament at the 8th position. In this match, captain Harmanpreet Singh scored two goals for India, while Abhishek scored one goal.
India had a great start in the first quarter
The Indian team started the match aggressively, with Abhishek scoring a goal in the sixth minute to give the team a 1-0 lead. However, India suffered a setback due to having more than the required 11 players on the field. This mistake resulted in captain Harmanpreet Singh being shown a yellow card and forced to leave the field for five minutes.
Despite this, the Indian defense performed brilliantly in the first quarter. Belgium earned several penalty corners, but the Indian players prevented them from being converted. Belgium failed to score a goal in the first quarter.
Belgium turned the match around in two minutes
Meanwhile, Belgium made a strong comeback in the second quarter, scoring two goals in just two minutes. In the 22nd minute, Romain Duvekot equalized the score at 1-1. Just a minute later, in the 23rd minute, Hugo Labouchere converted a penalty corner to give Belgium a 2-1 lead. Then, at the start of the third quarter, Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a brilliant goal to give India a 2-2 lead.
However, Belgium scored another goal in the fourth quarter to take a 3-2 lead. The match seemed to be slipping away from India. But just 20 seconds before the end of the match, Indian captain Harmanpreet scored from a penalty corner to level the score at 3-3 and force the match into a shootout.
Harmanpreet and Sukhjeet missed the shootout
After the score remained tied at 3-3 at the end of regulation time, the match went into a penalty shootout, where the Indian team got off to a strong start. Shilanand, Dilpreet, and Abhishek scored on their first three attempts to put India in a strong position. However, captain Harmanpreet Singh and Sukhjeet failed to score on their final two attempts. Meanwhile, four Belgian players scored goals to give their team the victory, with only one Belgian player failing to score.
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India’s journey to Hockey World Cup 2026
The Indian men’s hockey team, aiming to win a medal at the Hockey World Cup after 51 years, started the tournament on a high note. In the first round, India defeated Wales 3-1 and Pakistan 5-3. However, they lost 2-4 to England. Following this, the Indian team’s performance in the second round was disappointing. India lost 1-3 to the Netherlands, while Argentina also defeated Team India 5-3.
India’s dream of reaching the semifinals was shattered by a series of defeats. The Indian team failed to win a single match in the second round and also suffered a defeat against Belgium in the final match. Thus, Team India’s World Cup journey ended in 8th place.