India’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 ended after Argentina defeated the Indian men’s hockey team 5-3 in a crucial Pool E match at the Wagenar Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen on Monday.
The match began poorly for India, with Joaquin Toscani opening the scoring for Argentina in the first minute. A few minutes later, Nicolas Della Torre converted a penalty corner to extend Argentina’s lead to 2-0. India responded in the 10th minute when Sukhjeet Singh scored to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
India launched several attacks after the goal, but Argentina’s defensive line managed to withstand the pressure. Argentina’s early advantage remained a challenge for India despite the competitive nature of the match.
Argentina increased the pressure on the Indian defence in the second half. Tomas Domene scored in the 33rd and 45th minutes to put Argentina in a ber position. The task of making a comeback became more difficult for India.
Argentina continued its attacking play in the fourth quarter, with Lucas Toscani scoring the team’s fifth goal in the 53rd minute to make it 5-2. India applied pressure in the final minutes and scored again, but could not overturn the deficit.
Sukhjeet Singh scored his second goal in the 58th minute, while Hardik Singh converted a penalty stroke in the final moments to add India’s third goal. Argentina, however, held on for a 5-3 victory.
The defeat ended India’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals. In the second stage of the tournament, India had earlier lost 1-3 to the Netherlands and then suffered defeat against Argentina.
India had qualified for the next stage after defeating Wales 3-1 and Pakistan 5-3 in Pool D. However, the team could not maintain that run in the second stage.
