World Cup: India hold nerves to edge out Pakistan 5-3 in a thriller

India edged out arch rivals Pakistan in a 5-3 thriller at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands to advance to the second round of the ongoing FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2026 on Wednesday.

 Full points in this high stakes game helped Harmanpreet Singh-led side finished second in Pool D behind a perfect England, to book a place in the next stage of this edition under the new format. India hence maintained their unbeaten run against Pakistan over the last decade - though with enough anxious moments after the green shirts cut the lead to 3-5 in the last quarter.

England, meanwhile, thrashed Wales 8-2 in their last group match to top the pool. Tougher tests arrive India in the next round as they will face the Netherlands and either Argentina or New Zealand - who square off on Thursday in the next round of matches.

Pakistan, meanwhile, went out of contention for a shot at the semi-finals despite a lionhearted show and will now have to play for the classification matches.

 Harmanpreet was again at his inspirational best as he and forward Abhishek bagged a brace each while midfielder Hardik Singh converted a penalty stroke. For Pakistan, Hanan Shahid scored twice and Sufyan Khan scored the other.