India ended their FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 campaign with an eighth-place finish after losing to hosts Belgium 4-3 in the shootout in their classification match at the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre on Friday.
The regulation period ended 3-3 after India’s last-minute goal to force a shootout to decide the winner.
Roman Duvekot 22′, Hugo Labouchere 23′, Arthur De Sloover 47′ scored for world No. 2 Belgium, while Abhishek Nain 6′ and Harmanpreet Singh 31′, 60′ netted for the Indian hockey team.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh finished his FIH Hockey World Cup campaign with eight goals, joint top of the scoring charts with Argentina’s Tomás Domene, with one day of competition remaining.
The match also saw two Indians achieve milestones with defender Amit Rohidas earning his 250th international cap, while midfielder Rajinder Singh received his 50th.
At the start of the match, Belgium went in with an aggressive full-press and entered the Indian circle inside the opening minute, but India dealt comfortably with the early threat.
India gradually found their footing and took the lead in the sixth minute. Manpreet Singh created the opening, finding Abhishek at a tight angle. The forward unleashed a powerful push that was padded into the goal by the Belgian keeper.
Belgium then turned the match around in the 22nd minute. Duvekot created space after receiving a cross in front of goal and wrong-footed Hardik Singh and Sanjay before beating goalkeeper Mohith to make it 1-1.
Barely a minute later, Belgium earned another penalty corner and Labouchere converted to give the hosts a 2-1 lead at halftime.
India responded immediately after the interval. Rajinder Singh helped create a penalty corner and Harmanpreet unleashed a drag-flick that beat Vanasch to make it 2-2.
The momentum then swung back towards Belgium. Hendrickx appeared to restore their lead from a penalty corner, but India successfully referred the decision and the goal was ruled out for height.
The third quarter ended level, but Belgium regained the initiative early in the final period. Manpreet Singh was struck in the face by a close-range Labouchere attempt and had to leave the field with a bloody injury.
Soon afterwards, Belgium took advantage of an attacking situation to score. The ball rose, struck an Indian defender and fell to de Kerpel, whose hit bounced off the turf and into the net beyond Mohith’s reach.
With less than three minutes remaining, India removed Karkera and went with an additional outfield player. The gamble paid off at the very end. India won a penalty corner with 26 seconds remaining, and Harmanpreet stepped up to deliver once more, beating Vanasch and taking the contest to a shootout.
However, Belgium held their nerve in the shootout to finish seventh, while India settled for eighth.
