Chennai’s Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium lit-up on Friday, which saw the four quarter-finals of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 producing breathtaking finishes, with all matches going down to the wire.
Spain, Argentina, Germany and India entered the semi-finals, with shootouts deciding the wins for defending champions Germany and two-time winners India. Meanwhile, defeats for Netherlands and Belgium ended their hopes of winning their maiden Junior World Cup title.
Here’s how the first knockout stage of the tournament panned out:
Spain vs New Zealand (Full-Time Score: 4-3)
In a thrilling finish that is not for the faint-hearted, the first quarter-final turned out to be a heavyweight boxing bout that went to the last round,with both Spain and New Zealand refusing to be knocked out.
In a rare finish, the crowd in Chennai saw the equaliser as well as the winning goal in the final minuteof play. But whilethe Spaniardsbroke into celebrations after BrunoAvila converted a penalty corner tosignal his team’s4-3win, the Blacks Sticks had their heads in hands having equalized a few seconds before through Sam Lints’s second goal.
Spain began the first match of the last-eight stage like a bullet train, racing to a 3-0 lead in the first 12 minutes – thanks to Nicolas Mustaros, Josep Martin and Albert Serrahima’s field goals. New Zealand looked down for the count but were lifted by Lints’s first goal of the match in the 22ndminute, which kept Black Sticks in it at 3-1 at half-time.
Ryan Parr reducedtheSpanish lead further when his 34th-minute penalty-corner conversion brought the Black Sticks within one goal of making things even. Spain fortified their backline thereafter, as the next 25 minutes saw both the teams standing tall in defence.
The climax turned out to be a classic one with Lints’s equaliser in the 60thminute, but Avila made it a happy one for Spain,strikingjust before the final hooter to clinch the humdinger 4-3 for a place in the semi-finals.
“We have qualified and feel so happy. It was a very hard match. In the first half, we were so good and dominated the match. In the second half, it was a little harder with the cards and with goals by them (New Zealand). We just defended and defended before finally winning the match with a goal in the last minute,” said Pere Amat in his analysis of the match.
France vs Germany [Full-Time Score: 2 (1) - 2 (3 SO)]
The second knockout game of the day saw a rematch ofthelast edition’s final between defending champions Germany and France. The French team, who had lost 1-2 in the 2023 Junior Men’s World Cup final, tested the Germans even more this time as it took a tiebreaking shootout after 2-2 at full-time for the trophy-holders to keep their title defence alive.
Germany won the shootout 3-1 to become the second team to enter the semis, with Jonas von Gersum, Justus Warweg and Lukas Kosselconverting for the reigning champions.ForFrance, only Aristide Michaelis was able to beat German goalkeeper Jasper Ditzer, who foiled three French attempts to earn the Player-of-the-Match award
Earlier in the regulation period, the lead kept exchanging hands and the four quarters couldn’t decide the winner, ending at 2-2. Forthe first29 of those 60 minutes, the two teams kept testing each other’s defence but couldn’t breach it. And all of a sudden the game saw two goals in the 30thminute. Alec von Schwerin put Germany ahead,butonly to see France equalising moments later with Malo Martinache’s penalty-corner strike.
Paul Glander restored Germany’s lead after the break at 2-1 with his 36th-minute goal, after which their defensive structure held firm deep into the final quarter. But the 55thminute saw Hugo Dolou making it even-steven at 2-2 and France held onto that to force a shootout.
Speaking after the match,German captain Ben Hasbachsaid:“It’s an amazing feeling. It was a very good team effort. We had a difficult first half but fought our way back into the game in the second half to win it; we deserved it. Over the whole year, we have been good in the last (two) quarters. We are a very good team and brought that to the pitch today.”
Netherlands vs Argentina (Full-Time Score: 0-1)
Two-times former winners Argentina and their captain Tomas Ruiz saved their best for the last against the Netherlands, after the two sides kept exchanging blows but failed to break the deadlock until the game saw its decisive goalin the final quarter. The moment gave the Argentines a 1-0 win for a spot in the last four and ended the Dutch hopes of a maiden title.
The fiercely-contested game saw the umpires showing cards as many as eight times. Five of those were yellow-card suspensions, and four times it was an Argentine playerwho wassent out for five minutes. At one point the Argentina team was playing with nine players, when Ruiz and Bruno Correa were both yellow-carded in the 21stminute.
The game kept the two on-field umpires busier but didn’t produce any goals until the 52nd-minute penalty corner earned by Argentina thatsawRuizscoring. Interestingly,Netherlands’s Thies Bakker (53rdminute) andRuiz(55thminute)wereshown a yellow card,reducing both the teams to 10 men.
But theArgentinesdefended in numbers, led by some brilliant goalkeeping by Joaquin S Ruiz, to protect their 1-0 lead, andtheysucceeded in it to progress to the semi-finals.
“We train every day and play every ball as itisthe last one. We are positive every day, in every moment and we deserve this. We are in the semifinals,” saida delightedMateo Serranoof Argentina.
India vs Belgium [Full-Time Score: 2 (4) - 2 (3)]
A vociferous crowd at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium was entertained to a dramatic finish in the most-awaited match of the day, which culminated with an edge-of-the-seat shootout after 60 minutes of pulsating hockey finished at 2-2.
The quarter-finals ended with the result that the home crowed wanted – India won the shootout 4-3, thanks to star performances by goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh and Sharda Nand Tiwari.
The high-voltage encounter began with Belgium scoring in the 13thminute through Gaspard Cornez-Massant and then putting up a defensive masterclass to deny India until the last minute of the third quarter. India’s relentless attack earned them a penalty corner in the 45thminute and skipper Rohit stepped up to flick the ball into the Belgian goal, which made it 1-1.
Tiwari scored off another penalty corner in the 48thminute to give India the lead, which they almost defended till the end. But a 59th-minute strike by Nathan Rogge pushed the game into a shootout.
The drama continued in the one-on-one situations, where the Belgian goalkeeper Alexis van Havere was fouled for bringing an Indian striker down on three occasions, resulting in penalty strokes for the home team. Tiwari converted from the spot on each of those occasions before Ankit Pal scored the winning goal, which was unsuccessfully challenged by the Belgians.
On the other hand, Prince Deep stood tall in the Indian post to deny Rogge and Nicolas Bogaerts, which proved to be the difference in the end. Hugo Labouchere, Guerlain Hawaux and Charles Langendries were the Belgian scorers in the shootout.
“I thank the crowd for their support as their noise raised our confidence,” said India’s goalkeeper and ‘Player of the Match’ Prince Deep. “There was pressure, but I have to make saves whether it is the last minute or not. I have learned everything from (chief coach and goalkeeping legend) PR Sreejesh. It has raised my confidence. This tournament has given me a chance to showcase my skills. We will try to repeat our winning performance (in the semis) and clinch the trophy.”
Semi-finals Line-up
Argentina vs Spain
India vs Germany
To see the full match schedule,click here
FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 – 5th December
Result: Match 45
Spain 4–3 New Zealand
Player of the Match: Bruno Avila (ESP)
Umpires: Ilanggo Kanabathu (MAS) and Benjamin Peters (USA)
Result: Match 46
France 2 (1) – 2 (3 SO) Germany
Player of the Match: Jasper Ditzer (GER)
Umpires: Bevan Nichol (NZL) and Annelize Rostron (RSA)
Result: Match 47
Netherlands 0-1 Argentina
Player of the Match:Joaquin S Ruiz (ARG)
Umpires: Harry Collinson (ENG) and Rawi Anbananthan (MAS)
Result: Match 48
India 2 (4 SO) - 2 (3) Belgium
Player of the Match: Prince Deep Singh (IND)
Umpires: Timothy Sheahan (AUS) and Daniel Veerman (NED)
