India suffered a narrow 3-4 defeat to Belgium on penalties — after a score of 3-3 in regular time — in the 7/8th classification match at the Belfius Hockey Arena Arena in Wavre to finish eighth at the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2026 on Friday.
With the result, India’s challenge at the World Cups in Belgium and Netherlands came to an end. On Thursday, the Indian women’s team finished fifth after beating Germany.
The Craig Fulton-coached side refused to back down throughout the match.
It began the match on the right note with Abhishek scoring early on in the first quarter. However, goals from Roman Duvekot and Hugo Labouchere in the second quarter saw the host get ahead at half-time.
Harmanpreet Singh got his side on equal terms with another goal from a Penalty Corner, but Arthur de Sloover put Belgium back ahead in the final quarter. Harmanpreet then salvaged another goal to force the match into penalties, where India ended up being second-best by a lone-goal.
Published on Aug 28, 2026
