Pakistan crashed out of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup after suffering a 5-3 defeat to India at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen.
Pakistan failed to qualify for the next stage of the ongoing tournament, being held in the Netherlands and Belgium, after suffering their second defeat in three matches.
Following a 1-4 loss to England and a 3-3 draw against Wales, Pakistan needed a victory against traditional rivals India in their Group D match to advance to the knockout stage.
However, in Amstelveen, the Pakistan hockey team, led by Abu Bakar, appeared under pressure from the very beginning against India.
The Indian team, captained by Harmanpreet Singh, had lost 2-4 to England in their second match but displayed highly aggressive hockey against Pakistan. India secured their second win of the World Cup with a 5-3 victory over Pakistan and qualified for the knockout stage.
In the important FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 match at Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, India opened the scoring in the first quarter through captain Harmanpreet Singh from a penalty corner. Abhishek then scored India’s second goal to double their lead. India maintained their advantage until the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh scored his second goal from a rebound off a penalty corner, putting India 3-0 ahead. A few minutes later, Pakistan’s Hannan Shahid pulled one back to make it 1-3. However, just minutes later, Abhishek scored his second goal of the match to restore India’s three-goal advantage.
Pakistan then converted their first penalty corner of the match through Sufyan, reducing the deficit. At the end of the second quarter, India led Pakistan 4-2.
In the third quarter, India further strengthened their lead to 5-2 through a penalty stroke. In the fourth and final quarter, Hannan Shahid scored his second goal of the match and Pakistan’s third, but India held on to win 5-3.
Reacting to the defeat, former Pakistan captain and Olympian Hanif Khan said Pakistan qualified for the World Cup after eight years but saw its campaign come to an end after just three matches.
He said Pakistan’s performance against India was not particularly good. The team played well in the second and third quarters, but the result could have been different had it performed well in the first quarter.
Hanif said Pakistan would have to start preparing from now if it wanted to win the World Cup. He also questioned on whose recommendation the foreign coaches had been appointed, saying they were not renowned foreign coaches.