Amstelveen, Aug 17:
India will face their toughest challenge in the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup pool stage when they take on world No.3-ranked England on Monday. The 32-year wait for a World Cup win over their European rivals adds an extra edge to the crucial Pool D clash.
India began their campaign with a 3-1 win over lower-ranked Wales on Saturday, with captain Harmanpreet Singh converting two penalty corners and Sanjay also finding the net from a set piece.
England will present a significantly tougher examination after opening their campaign with an impressive 4-1 win over Pakistan.
The result has made Monday’s contest particularly important under the new World Cup format. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the second stage, regrouped as Pools E and F.
The result against the team they have already played in the first round is carried forward, which could prove decisive in the race for the semifinals.
With both India and England eyeing the top two positions in Pool D, the outcome could have a major bearing on their route to the knockout stages.India will also look to improve on an otherwise satisfactory opening performance against Wales.
The forward line, especially Abhishek and Sukhjeet, created chances but could not finish from open play, leaving the team heavily reliant on set pieces. India started well against Wales, scoring two goals in the first quarter itself, but after that, there was a visible drop in intensity, which could prove costly in the matches ahead.
India will need to address these weaker links against England, who are likely to offer far fewer opportunities and punish defensive lapses.Harmanpreet was influential at both ends of the pitch against Wales, but India will expect greater coordination and sharper finishing from its forwards.
The two teams had a closely-fought encounter in the London leg of the Pro League before the World Cup, with both sides winning a penalty shootout and earning bonus points.
England, however, come into the tournament with strong recent form. They lost only two of their 16 matches in the 2025-26 Pro League and finished runners-up behind Belgium, while India finished eighth among nine teams.Asked about India’s Pro League struggles, Harmanpreet had said the team was focused on the World Cup.“There are ups and downs in the game, but our focus is currently on the World Cup.
We have come well prepared and the team is in form. We will focus on taking it match by match and creating as many scoring opportunities as possible,” he said.India will also hope that the three-day training camp in Switzerland before the tournament helps them handle the pressure of high-stakes matches. England have been among the consistent contenders at the World Cup, reaching at least the final five in each of the last five editions since 2006.
They also made a strong start to their qualifying campaign, defeating Japan 5-0, hosts Egypt 3-0 and the USA 5-0 before beating Malaysia 7-1 and Pakistan 4-1.
History, meanwhile, is firmly against India.
Their last World Cup victory over England came in the fifth-sixth-place match in Sydney in 1994, when India won by a solitary goal.
The teams did not meet in Utrecht in 1998, after which England defeated India 3-2 in three successive World Cups — 2002, 2006 and 2010 and 2-1 in 2014.
They did not meet in the 2018 edition in Bhubaneswar, while their most recent World Cup encounter in 2023 ended in a goalless draw.India will therefore be keen to break a 32-year-old World Cup jinx while also strengthening their position at the top of Pool D. With Pakistan awaiting India on August 19, Monday’s match could prove to be the defining contest of the opening stage.
For Harmanpreet and his team, the equation is simple — another win would put them in a strong position heading into the second half of the tournament, while a defeat could make the battle for the top two considerably tighter.