51 years and counting: India miss men's World Cup semis, beaten by Argentina

India's wait to make it to the semi-finals of the men's hockey World Cup will continue after they were hammered 3-5 by Argentina in Amstelveen on Monday, August 24.Harmanpreet and Co. will have to settle for competing in the 7th-8th place match (Courtesy: Hockey India)It's now 51 years and counting. India crashed out of the semi-final race in the men's hockey World Cup as Argentina beat them 3-5 in Amstelveen on Monday, August 24. The victory meant that Argentina extended their winning streak against India to five matches.Sukhjeet got a brace and Hardik Singh hit a penalty stroke to reduce the deficit, as Argentina ran away with the game in the first quarter and put India under all sorts of pressure. They will now wait to see the result of the England vs Netherlands clash to see if they will make it to the semi-finals. India will face Belgium in the 7th-8th place tie now to finish their campaign on Friday, August 28.It was a tournament that began with a lot of hope for the Indian team. Yet a lack of efficiency in front of goal and failing to deal with pressure has left them with a forgettable World Cup campaign once again. INDIA CONTINUE TO CREATE NOTHING DESPITE HAVING POSSESSIONIndia knew what the equation was going into the contest against Argentina. Beat them by two or more goals and hope that the Netherlands do them a favour. Knowing this, you expected Craig Fulton's side to come out searching for goals. The India head coach said he wanted his side to learn from the Netherlands game, where they were resolute in defence for almost three quarters. The first thing that they needed was to not concede the first goal. And certainly not in the first minute. Well, like a kid deciding to skip a module before a big exam, India forgot how to defend early. With 40 seconds on the board, Argentina cut them open through the right and then Joaquin Toscani punished them with a sensational strike to give his side the lead. What followed after that was pure bullying. India just couldn't get out from their own half and Argentina punished them yet again from a penalty corner. India were so good against the Dutch with their rushing to stop shots on goal. But this time, Nicolas del Torre hit right through the middle and past Mohith in goal. What was frustrating to see was that the defence Fulton had preached about just disintegrating during this competition. Right from the Pro League first leg, India conceded 12 goals against Argentina at home. During this tournament, they conceded eight in the group phase and followed it with another in phase two. There was also a change in the pressing as India went for a man-to-man method in attack and zonal while defending. This created a lot of confusion at the back, with Harmanpreet more or less in attack most of the time and leaving the rest to fend off the quick Argentina forwards. Sukhjeet was able to get India one back, and the hopes were reignited in the 10th minute. Then came another issue for India. As they started to dictate things in terms of possession, there was no end product. Abhishek has been silent in the tournament since his brace against Pakistan. Mandeep Singh seems to be past his prime and the rest are just struggling to keep up with the intensity. The defence continued to be shaky with Amit Rohidas missing a simple trap and almost letting the Argentina forward through on goal. India tried to amp things up in the second quarter and they kept possession. Having possession is one thing, but not having that attacking spark meant India were just making no use of the ball. By half-time, as the pace of the game settled in well, India had possession of 54.5 percent. But they were outclassed by Argentina in terms of circle entries (6-10), shots on target (1-5) and penalty conversion, which we will come to talk about later. - EndsPublished On: Aug 24, 2026 20:16 IST