NewsPunjab
25 August,2026
The Indian men’s hockey team’s dream of reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 Hockey World Cup has been shattered. India suffered a 3-5 defeat to Argentina in a crucial match played at the Wagner Stadium in Amstelveen on Monday. India needed to win this match by at least two goals to keep their hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive, but the team’s poor start and defensive weaknesses took a heavy toll.
Argentina put pressure on India from the start of the match and took a 2-0 lead within the first six minutes. Sukhjit Singh scored in the 10th minute for India to give the team hope of a comeback and the score remained 2-1 at half-time. However, Argentina continued to attack in the third quarter and further strengthened their lead.
Thomas Domene scored in the 33rd and 45th minutes, while Lucas Toscani scored Argentina’s fifth goal in the 53rd minute. After this, India tried to make a strong comeback in the last minutes. Sukhjit Singh scored his second goal and after this Hardik Singh converted the penalty stroke to make the score 3-5.
India also got a penalty corner just before the final hooter, but Harmanpreet Singh’s drag-flick was saved by the Argentine defense. With this, India’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals were over. Now the Indian team will face Belgium in the classification match for the 7th-8th place.
