However, both Belgium and Canada qualified to play crossover matches on December 11. Both Canada and South Africa completed respective pool engagements with one point apiece. But South Africa were eliminated from the competition as they finished last in the pool on the basis of goal difference, while Canada ended third.

The opening game of the day was just 35 seconds old when South Africa (World Ranking 15) took the lead against their higher-ranked Belgium. Nicholas Spooner was the scorer as he gathered the ball from a fantastic pitch-splitting pass from Rhett Halkett and then slammed it into the corner of Vincent Vanasch`s goal.
However, the Red Lions quickly recovered from the setback and began to turn the screw on South Africa with two goals from penalty corner specialist Alexander Hendrickx, a neatly taken field goal by Player of the Match Simon Gougnard and the fourth goal by Loick Luypaert.

Belgium went into the final quarter knowing they needed to score more goals in order to keep the pressure on India and Cedric Charlier was quick to deliver. He pounced on a ball that was slipped from the baseline by Gougnard, who had muscled his way past the South Africa defence.

The first quarter of the India-Canada match saw a pressure cooker of an atmosphere slowly build on the pitch and in the stands. That tipped over in the 12th minute as Harmanpreet Singh shot his team into the lead from a penalty corner. Prior to that moment, the Canada goalkeeper Antoni Kindler and his defence had withstood everything that Manpreet Singh and his men had thrown at them.

But Floris van Son momentarily silenced the crowd when he brought Canada back on equal terms. The player, who came in as a replacement for Brandon Pereira, was perfectly placed to receive the ball and shoot smartly past Sreejesh.

But the home team found its real form in the final quarters, sounding the board in space of 11 minutes. Mercurial forward Lalit Upadhyay scored a brace to be adjudged the Player of the Match. Other two goals for India were scored by Chinglensana Kangujam and Odisha defender Amit Rohidas.

RESULTS:

Dec 8 (Match No 21, Pool-C): Belgium (Alexander Hendrickx 14-PC, 22-PC; Simon Gougnard 18-FG, Loick Luypeart 30-PC, Cedric Charlier 48-FG) beat South Africa (Nicholas Spooner 1-FG) 5-1. PoM: Simon Gougnard (Belgium).
Dec 8 (Match No 22, Pool-C): India (Harmanpreet Singh 12-PC, Chinglensana Kangujam 46-FG, Lalit Upadhyay 47-FG, 57-FG; Amit Rohidas 51-PC) beat Canada (Floris van Son 39-FG) 5-1. PoM: Lalit Upadhyay (India).
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TOP: Odisha star and India defender Amit Rohidas celebrates after scoring a goal against Canada in their World Cup match in Bhubaneswar on Dec 8, 2018.
RIGHT: India forward Lalit Upadhyay receives the Player of the Match award from Raj Chengappa, Editorial Director of India Today Group on Dec 8, 2018.