India finished eighth in the 16th FIH Hockey Mens World Cup after losing to co-host Belgium in the 7th place classification match at Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre, Belgium today. India rode on a brace by captain Harmanpreet Singh to hold Belgium to a 3-3 draw in the regulation time of the nerve-wracking match. But Belgium won the shootout 4-3 to claim the seventh position, while India finished eighth.
Earlier, India squandered the medal opportunity as they failed to qualify for the semifinals after losing to Argentina 3-5 in their last Stage-2 Pool-E match at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands.
That was the third defeat in five games for India, who finished fourth and last in Pool-E without securing any point. In their previous Pool-E match, India suffered a 1-3 defeat against co-hosts the Netherlands.
India qualified for Stage-2 by finishing second in Pool-D league with six points from three games. They beat Wales 3-1 and Pakistan 5-3, but lost to England 2-4. Two players from Odisha (Amit Rohidas and Shilanand Lakra) represented the 20-member Indian team, which was led by Harmanpreet Singh. Rohidas bagged his 250th senior international cap in the match against Belgium.
INDIAN MENS HOCKEY TEAM: Goalkeepers: Mohith HS, Suraj Karkera. Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (Captain), Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Sumit, Yashdeep Siwach. Midfielders: Rajinder Singh, Aditya Arjun Lalage, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad. Forwards: Dilpreet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Abhishek. Chief Coach: Craig Fulton.
INDIA RESULTS:
15 August 2026 (Pool-D League): India (Sanjay Rana 8-PC, Harmanpreet Singh 11-PC, 43-PC) beat Wales (Sam Welsh 56-FG) 3-1. PoM: Harmanpreet Singh.
17 August 2026 (Pool-D League): India (Harmanpreet Singh 17-PC, Dilpreet Singh 25-FG) lost to England (Nicholas Bandurak 14-FG, 55-PC, Stuart Rushmere 39-FG, Henry Croft 43-FG) 2-4.
19 August 2026 (Pool-D League): India (Harmanpreet Singh 5-PC, 21-PC, Abhishek 11-FG, 24-FG, Hardik Singh 35-PS) beat Pakistan (Hannan Shahid 22-FG, 46-FG, Sufyan Khan 24-PC) 5-3.
22 August 2026 (Pool-E League): India (Harmanpreet Singh 52-PC) lost to Netherlands (Duco Telgenkamp 41-FG, Tjep Hoedemakers 51-FG, Thijs van Dam 55-FG) 1-3.
24 August 2026 (Pool-E League): India (Sukhjeet Singh 10-FG, 58-FG, Hardik Singh 60-PS) lost to Argentina (Joaquin Toscani 1-FG, Della Torre 6-PC, Micael Domene 33-FG, 45-PS, Lucas Toscani 53-FG) 3-5.
28 August 2026 (7th place match): India (Abhishek Nain 6-FG, Harmanpreet Singh 31-PC, 60-PC) drew with Belgium (Roman Duvekot 22-FG, Hugo Labouchera 23-PC, Nicolas De Kerpel 47-FG) 3-3. Shootout: India (Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh, Abhishek Nain) lost to Belgium (Tom Boon, Arthur de Sloover, Alexander Hendrickx, Roman Duvekot) 3-4.