India’s men’s hockey team were eliminated from the FIH World Cup 2026 after a 3-5 defeat to Argentina in a second-round match at Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen.
India needed to win by at least a two-goal margin to overturn their goal difference and stay in semi-final contention, but instead conceded five goals in a disjointed performance.
Sukhjeet Singh scored twice for India, in the 10th and 58th minutes, while Hardik Singh converted a penalty stroke in the 59th minute.
For Argentina, Tomas Domene scored a brace, with Joaquin Toscani, Nicolas Della Torre and Lucas Toscani each adding a goal.
India conceded 16 goals across five matches in the tournament, with defensive frailties proving costly in the must-win encounter against Argentina.
With their World Cup campaign over, India will now play a seventh-eighth place classification match against Belgium.
The tournament, co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands, has been running across multiple venues, with Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen serving as one of the key match venues for the pool and knockout-stage fixtures.
India had opened their campaign with a win over Wales before results against other pool opponents left them needing a big win over Argentina to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh’s side will now regroup for the placement matches, with the team looking to finish the tournament on a positive note despite falling short of the knockout stages.
The early exit will prompt scrutiny of India’s defensive setup heading into next month’s Asian Games, where the team will be among the favourites given the depth of their squad.
India’s coaching staff are expected to review the tournament performance in detail, with the placement matches against Belgium offering a chance to end the campaign with a positive result.
The result marks a disappointing tournament for a squad that had entered the World Cup with high expectations following strong performances in earlier international fixtures this year.
Photo by Government of Odisha, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
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