India surrendered a two-goal lead as England fought back to win 4-2 at the Hockey World Cup 2026 in Amstelveen. Harmanpreet Singh's side now face a must-not-lose Pakistan clash on Wednesday.
India's hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the Hockey World Cup have taken a hit after a 2-4 defeat to England in Amstelveen on Monday.
The Indian men's team let a two-goal half-time lead slip away at the Wagener Hockey Stadium, going down 4-2 in their second Pool D fixture of the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2026. Captain Harmanpreet Singh put India ahead from a penalty corner in the 16th minute, and Dilpreet Singh doubled the lead in the 24th, finishing off a well-worked move to make it 2-1 at the break.
That lead did not survive the second half. England's Nicholas Bandurak, who had opened the scoring for his side in the 14th minute, struck again in the 55th to complete his brace, while Stuart Rushmere and Henry Croft added a goal each in the third and fourth quarters. India actually had the better of possession, 51 per cent to England's 49, and managed 11 shots on goal to England's 10, according to a report by ANI carried on Olympics.com. It was England, though, who made the chances count.
The result stretches India's wait for a World Cup win over England to 32 years. Their last victory over the European side came in 1994, a 1-0 win in the fifth-place playoff in Sydney. England have won four meetings between the two sides since then, in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014, and Monday's result keeps that run alive.
India had opened their campaign well, beating Wales 3-1, with Harmanpreet scoring twice from penalty corners and Sanjay adding a third from a set piece. England, meanwhile, arrived on the back of a 4-1 win over Pakistan. With two wins from two matches, they have already sealed a top-two finish in Pool D and sit on six points at the top of the group.
India are second with three points, and the equation for their final pool match is a little more forgiving than it might look: a win or even a draw against Pakistan on Wednesday would be enough to keep their World Cup alive.
It is a campaign India will want to turn around. They are still chasing a first World Cup title since 1975, and the last edition still stings. Hosting the tournament in Bhubaneswar in 2023, India finished second in their pool, then lost the crossover match to New Zealand in a penalty shootout after the scores were level at 3-3, and had to grind through the classification rounds to finish ninth. Wednesday's match against Pakistan, back at the Wagener Hockey Stadium, will go a long way toward deciding whether this campaign ends better than that one did.
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