The Indian team, which performed strongly in the first round of the Hockey World Cup 2026, has suffered a major setback in the second round. After the defeat of the women’s team against the host Netherlands, the condition of the men’s team was also the same. In its first match of the second round on Saturday, 22 August, the Indian men’s hockey team also lost against the host Netherlands. The Indian team, which was successful in containing the Netherlands in this match for a long time, disintegrated in the last quarter and the Netherlands won the match 3-1. This defeat has dealt a blow to Indian hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
In this match of Pool E in Phase-2 played in Amstelveen, the challenge was already difficult for the Indian team, but despite this, the Indian team performed consistently and did not allow Netherlands to score any goal in the first two quarters. However, the Indian team itself could not score the goal of the Dutch team, due to which the score remained equal 0-0 till half time. The same trend continued for a long time in the third quarter and it seemed that Team India would somehow score a point in the match. Then the situation changed in the 41st minute.
