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As they try to get a big win against Wales, who are at the bottom of the standings and are playing for the first time, India, who haven’t lost a game yet, will try to do better in penalty corners. As a result, India will be guaranteed a spot in the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup quarterfinals on Thursday.
After two matches, India and England have four points each, with England leading on goal difference (plus five versus the hosts’ plus two). India, on the other hand, will have the advantage of knowing what to do beforehand because they play after England’s game on Thursday against Spain.
India won’t have any problems if England loses to Spain or draws with Spain because all they need to do to top Pool D—known as the group of death—and advance to the quarterfinals is to beat Wales by any means. India must defeat Wales by at least five goals if England defeats Spain. Depending on England’s victory margin, India will need to score more goals to win.
Goal difference determines the pool stage rankings if two teams are on equal points and have the same number of victories. In any case, India will not be eliminated from the tournament because they are expected to beat Wales and finish second. India will play the third-place team in Pool C, which could be either New Zealand or Malaysia, in the “crossover” round if they finish second in Pool D.
At the brand-new Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela, India had defeated Spain 2-0 and drawn with England 0-0. In this World Cup, it will be their first time playing at the Kalinga Stadium. The team that wins each of the four pools automatically advances to the quarterfinals. Crossover matches will feature the winners of each pool’s second and third spots. A pool’s second-place team will play a pool’s third-place team, and the winning team will play a pool champion in the quarterfinals.
India will play one less match if they win Pool D and go straight to the quarterfinals, which may keep them fresh for the last eight stages. We will lose one game if we win our pool, which is good for us. Manpreet Singh, a midfielder who had led India to a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, said, “We will try to play our best, play our normal game, and execute our plans.”
India’s rate of penalty-corner conversion is the primary issue. Although Amit Rohidas scored against Spain after captain Harmanpreet Singh’s drag-flick rebounded off an opponent’s stick, they have not scored from any of their nine penalty corners.
Harmanpreet, a drag-flicker, has recently been the nation’s top scorer in almost every tournament, including the historic bronze-winning campaign at the Tokyo Olympics. However, he has been having trouble finding the target in this prestigious competition. India will have an easier time winning by a significant amount if Harmanpreet gets going, as his team is expected to win a lot of penalty corners against Wales.
Harmanpreet had stated following the England match that “I hope to start scoring goals from penalty corners in the next match.” India will also need to use field opportunities because they missed several chances to score against England.”
Head coach Graham Reid stated, “Missed opportunities, and we next (against Wales) have to try to do better inside the opposition circle.” Midfielder Hardik Singh’s injury to his hamstring toward the end of the England match also dealt a blow to India. He won’t be a likely starter against Wales on Thursday, but he should be back in time for the quarterfinals or crossover stage.
Hardik will undoubtedly be missed, but India’s chances against Wales, ranked 14th in the world, and the hosts, ranked fifth, are unlikely to be affected by his absence. Hardik can be replaced by Vivek Sagar Prasad, for example.
Wales will only play to keep their dignity, as their previous losses to England (0-5) and Spain (1-5) mean they have little chance of making it to the next round. Wales may not advance to the crossover stage due to their negative goal difference of nine, even if they beat India, which is unlikely, and Spain beat England.
The Indian Squads: Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Abhishek, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (vice-captain), Lalit Upadhyay, Krishan Pathak, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, PR Sreejesh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohi
Wales: Toby Reynolds-Cotterill, Rhys Payne, Gareth Furlong, Daniel Kyriakides, Hywel Jones, Ioan Wall, Steve Kelly, Lewis Prosser, Dale Hutchinson, Jacob Draper, Gareth Griffiths, Rhys Bradshaw, Fred Newbold, Ben Francis, Luke Hawker, James Carson, and Jack Pritchard are the captain and the other members of the team.
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