‘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: