The Indian men’s hockey team finished in eighth place at the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2026 after suffering a 4-3 loss in a penalty shootout against co-hosts Belgium. Following an intense 3-3 draw in regulation time at the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre, Belgium held their nerve in the shootout to seal seventh place on home soil.

Hockey World Cup 2026 – India Takes Early Lead Before Belgium Responds

India opened the scoring in the sixth minute when forward Abhishek Nain slotted a sharp strike past the Belgian defense. Co-hosts Belgium responded aggressively in front of their home crowd, striking back with quick goals from Roman Duvekot in the 22nd minute and Hugo Labouchere via a penalty-corner drag-flick in the 23rd minute to take a 2-1 lead into half-time.

Hockey World Cup 2026 – Harmanpreet Singh Strikes Twice to Force Shootout

Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh brought India back on level terms early in the third quarter with a clinical penalty corner strike. After Nicolas De Kerpel restored Belgium’s lead at 3-2 in the 47th minute, India mounted a frantic late attack. With just 26 seconds left on the clock, Harmanpreet converted another penalty corner to score his second goal of the match, bringing the score to 3-3 and forcing a penalty shootout.

Hockey World Cup 2026 – Vincent Vanasch Drives Belgium to Shootout Victory

In the shootout, Belgium’s veteran goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch made key saves against attempts by Harmanpreet Singh and Sukhjeet Singh to give the hosts an early edge. Although Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh, and Abhishek converted their shots for India, Belgium held firm, with Roman Duvekot scoring the final shootout attempt to seal a 4-3 victory.