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

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.

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.

What Happened

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.

• England and India will face the Netherlands and either Argentina or New Zealand in the second round.

• They are through to the semifinals with a perfect nine points from three match victories.

• England consolidated their chokehold on Pool D with a commanding 8-2 win over Wales earlier on Wednesday at Wagener Stadium.

Key Details

They sit in second place in Pool D with six points from an earlier 3-1 win against Wales.

• A 10-man India held off Pakistan for the last few minutes to seal the win and progress to the second round.

• 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.

• India were unsuccessful with their video review taken by Dilpreet Singh in the 53rd minute.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by Al Jazeera as more details emerge