India rout Pakistan at Hockey World Cup 2026 to qualify for second round

A 10-man India have staved off Pakistan 5-3 and advanced to the second round of the Hockey World Cup after a crucial encounter for the South Asian neighbours at Wagener Stadium.

The victory on Wednesday for eighth-ranked India keeps them in contention for the semifinals while Pakistan were eliminated from the tournament, which is being held in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.

India captain Harmanpreet Singh led the way when he opened scoring in the fourth minute from a penalty corner before Abhishek doubled their lead in the 10th minute off a pass from Mandeep Singh.

Harmanpreet added one more for India in the 20th minute off a penalty corner before Pakistan’s Hannan Shahid scored off a rebound from the goalkeeper.

Abhishek extended the India lead to 4-1 from a lucky deflection off Pakistan’s stick, but Sufyan Khan’s superb dragflick off a penalty corner narrowed the gap to 4-2 at halftime.

Hardik Singh made it 5-2 with a penalty stroke early in the third quarter, which ended with a three-point lead for India and a green card each for Pakistan’s Zikriya Hayat and India’s Rajinder Singh.

Pakistan rallied to make it 5-3 just as the fourth quarter began when Shahid scored in the 45th minute after Hardik lost possession of the ball in the midfield.

India were unsuccessful with their video review taken by Dilpreet Singh in the 53rd minute. It was tough luck for the men in orange when Aditya Lalage received a yellow card in the 55th minute, ruling him out from the rest of the match.