‘Ye Cup hamara hai’ – Fans rejoice as India defeat Wales by 4-2 in FIH Hockey World Cup 2023

India defeated Wales in their third match in the FIH Hockey World Cup 2023 on Thursday by 4-2. Courtesy of their win, they finished in second place in the pool D behind England. Team India started their campaign on a high note by defeating Spain in the opening match and their second game against England ended in a draw.

Akashdeep Singh (32nd and 45th minutes) struck twice, while Shamsher Singh (21st) and Harmanpreet Singh (59th) got the other goals for India. Gareth Furlong (42nd) and Jacob Draper (44th) were the goal-scorers for Wales. The ‘Men-in-Blue’ needed to win the match by a margin of eight goals but could only convert just 4 goals. Hence, they will now play the crossover games to qualify for the quarter-finals.

India initially had the upper hand with a possession percentage better than Wales and took the charge from the beginning. India have earned 3 points to equal England in the final score on Pool D standings. But they are behind England in terms of goal difference and hence will have to play the crossover matches. On the other hand, England have directly qualified for the quarterfinals with a goal difference of 9.

India’s qualification scenario for the quarter-finals

Each of the 16 teams divided into four groups i.e A, B, C and D were scheduled to play three matches each against teams of their pools. According to the rules, the team that tops the table will advance directly to the quarterfinals. On the other hand, the teams on the second and third spots will play the crossover matches starting on January 22.

Earlier, England defeated Spain 4-0 and have a goal difference of 9 which makes them the table-topper. To reach the quarterfinals directly, Team India needed to defeat Wales in such a way that their goal difference was 8 in the game. Even if they had won with a goal difference of 7, then 6 goals out of those should have been field goals. However, India’s final goal difference is 3 and they will play the crossover matches, while Wales will be eliminated from the group stage.

India will next face New Zealand on the 22nd of January.

India have been waiting for the World Cup trophy for 47 years. They won their first and only Hockey World Cup trophy in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia defeating Pakistan in the final. Apart from this, the second-best performance by India came in the 1973 edition where they finished as the runner-ups.

Meanwhile, Twitter was abuzz with reactions on India’s victory on Thursday. Here are some of the Tweets:

We should put the same passion for hockey..our team is in the world cup

— Bryan Foo🇲🇾 🇺🇦 (@wsfuk) January 20, 2023

Performance of Team India at Hockey World Cup so far :

Positives : Harjit Singh, Akashdeep Singh, tight defence, only 1 goal conceded to Penalty Corners.

Negatives : Conversion from PCs & from the circle has been dismal, form of skipper Harmanpreet, short passes.

— Ansuman Rath 🇮🇳 (@_AnsumanRath) January 20, 2023

Hockey world cup pic.twitter.com/cbNtlqbTJJ

— SACHIN PAWASKAR (@sachinpnakhare) January 20, 2023

All we can hear is India… India!

The #Indianhockeyteam performed splendidly in a thrilling match in the #HockeyWorldCupLeague, defeating #Wales by a margin of 4-2.
Here's our heartiest congratulations to all the players for this victory.

#INDvsWAL #HockeyWorldCup pic.twitter.com/PvbhKPWf0a

— Arihant Publication (@arihantpub) January 20, 2023

Chak De India!
The Indian hockey team performed splendidly in a thrilling match in the #HockeyWorldCup League, defeating the Wales hockey team by a margin of 4-2. My heartiest congratulations to all the players of the Indian hockey team for this victory.#INDvsWAL #HockeyIndia pic.twitter.com/nVW6lFS7Zq

— RajyavardhanRathore (@Ra_THORe) January 20, 2023

@dinamalarweb doesn't even care to report result of yesterday hockey World cup match between India and Wales

Match completed before 10. So you can't escape saying match happened late to report in today's paper …#HockeyWorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/M7AQjGjJoB

— Vicky AV (@iamVickyAV) January 20, 2023

India vs Wales at #KalingaStadium in #Bhubaneswar. @mandeepsingh995 @akashdeeps985 #HWC2023 #HockeyWorldCup #Odisha pic.twitter.com/IEoE8fu7Ir

— Shamim Qureshy (@Shamim_Qureshy) January 20, 2023

#Wales
India vs Wales Hockey World Cup 2023 Highlights: IND win 4-2, to play NZ in crossover

— APP BAZAR (@app_bazar) January 20, 2023

Amazing scenes from Kalinga stadium Odisha!❤️#HockeyWorldCup#HockeyIndia pic.twitter.com/EAVAOuX2Gq

— Padmaj Malik (@padmajMalik) January 20, 2023

Indian Men’s Hockey Team 🇮🇳 has been impressive, and dominating – wish all the best, Get the title Boys 💙

Are you following the 🏑 FIH World Cup?

— Manish Pandey (मनीष पाण्डेय) join2manish.eth (@join2manish) January 20, 2023

#Akashdeep_Singh named Player of the Match for his two goals and brilliant performance overall! 💯#HockeyWorldCup2023 #Hockey_World_Cup_2023#HockeyComesHome#Hockey_India pic.twitter.com/9grC3Mjesk

— Rohitash Verma (@bhadaliya13) January 20, 2023

Congratulation #HockeyIndia for another winning in #HockeyWorldCup
👍👍 #TeJran #CoreDAO#ぐるナイ pic.twitter.com/Y6HmEi9m7m

— Nur khan (@1Nurkhan) January 20, 2023

India's victory against Wales (4-2) in FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023
Congratulation Champions🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🥰🥰❤️#India #Champions pic.twitter.com/ncvo4OHx7V

— Praveen (@Praveen15178105) January 20, 2023