India crash out of Hockey World Cup after 3-5 loss to Argentina

India's men's hockey team has been eliminated from the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2026 semifinal race after a 3-5 defeat against Argentina in their final Pool E match at the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen on Monday. India needed to win by at least three goals to keep their semifinal hopes alive but conceded early goals in the first minute through Joaquin Toscani and in the sixth minute through Nicolas Della Torre. Sukhjeet Singh scored twice and Hardik Singh converted a penalty stroke, but the late fightback could not prevent the loss.

Head coach Craig Fulton told PTI that the team's slow start and the pressure of qualification permutations got the better of them. 'We started poorly. There were a lot of permutations going into this game that got the better of us,' he said. India finished at the bottom of Pool E without a point, having also lost to the Netherlands. The FIH World Cup format, which carries forward first-round results and uses crossover pools, has left teams, media and fans grappling with complex equations. Coaches from South Africa, Japan and Chile criticised the format, saying it favours bigger teams and distracts from the game. India will now play co-hosts Belgium in the seventh-place classification match on August 28.