New Zealand were at times imperious and at other times slightly vulnerable in their final round-robin match of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup at the Hartleyvale Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday, but they got the job done, beating Japan 5-2 to finish at the top of Pool A.

The back-to-back champions completed their 15th Nations Cup match without defeat, and were set on their way by Kane Russell's milestone 100th international goal. The 34-year-old is the fourth New Zealander to score 100 goals for the men's national team.

The Black Sticks have set up a thrilling semifinal against hosts South Africa, the team their head coach Greg Nicol excelled for between 1994 and 2004, scoring a record 209 goals.

Japan, who staged an impressive comeback from 4-0 down, will play France, who have finished second and third in the last two Nations Cup events, in Friday's other semifinal.

In Wednesday's other match, Malaysia ensured Korea's tournament came to an end when they beat them 2-1 in a scrappy, cagey affair.

Malaysia survive to play in the fifth-to-eighth playoffs bracket, taking on the USA on Friday, while Ireland play Scotland in a battle of the Celts.

Korea 1 Malaysia 2 (Pool A)

Korea and Malaysia were evenly-matched in their decisive game that decided who was eliminated from the tournament and who went through to the fifth-to-eighth playoffs, and it took a 59th-minute goal for Malaysia to eventually seal victory.

The score was locked at 1-1 from the 20th minute and Korea, who had to win to progress, had just replaced their goalkeeper with an outfield player when Faizal Saari's fine tackle inside his own half turned over possession. A quick counter-attack followed and Saari sent a long ball into the Korean circle, Shello Silverius getting the most delicate of touches to deflect the ball into goal.

Japan still had a great chance for the equaliser with a minute remaining, Jonghyun Jang firing a fantastic long ball into the circle but Hyeongjin Kim, unmarked at the post, pushed the ball wide.

In the opening five minutes, Malaysia and Korea matched each other by both gifting great chances to the opposition by giving the ball away. Malaysia goalkeeper Mohamad Othman spared Marhan Jalil's blushes though as he saved Yong Bok Kim's high shot; but Mohamad Anuar punished Jonghyun after robbing him of the ball at the back, giving himself a one-on-one with the goalkeeper and flicking the ball under Jaehyeon Kim's leg and into goal.

In the 19th minute, Malaysia almost doubled their lead but Mohammad Azrai's deflection hit the crossbar after a free hit from just outside the circle had found him. Korea roared on to attack, Hyeongjin slapped the ball to the penalty spot and Gangsan Lee tucked the ball into goal for the equaliser.

But instead of the match then catching alight, the next 35 minutes saw both teams fritter away chances. Korea were particularly wasteful, struggling to connect in the last third, and their 29 circle penetrations only generated 11 shots at goal.

Anuar was named Player of the Match and he praised his team for bouncing back from their 5-1 hiding at the hands of New Zealand the previous day.

"It was a good game and very good to get the win after the loss. We had to come back to ourselves and stick together, because we knew we had to bounce back," Anuar said.

Captain Jalil was also pleased by the improved performance.

"We are very happy, our play was better and we gave of our best. It will be tough against the USA in our playoff match though," Jalil said.

New Zealand 5 Japan 2 (Pool A)

The love affair between Hockey New Zealand and the Nations Cup continued as the Black Sticks clinched the top spot in Pool A with a 5-2 win over Japan.

The back-to-back defending champions won all their Pool A matches to take their record in the Nations Cup to 13 wins and two draws, and they will now face the hosts, South Africa, in Friday's semifinals.

The Japanese fought back superbly from a 4-0 deficit, New Zealand rocking them with three goals in four minutes either side of halftime. A 43rd-minute yellow card to Dylan Thomas saw a change in momentum, with Japan pulling two goals back in the next four minutes.

At 2-4 down, they had a penalty corner but the crucial chance to put the Black Sticks under severe pressure went astray.

The Kiwis then had the final say in the 57th minute, Scott Boyde scoring an extraordinary goal as, while falling over with his back to the goal, he somehow managed to sweep the ball into the far corner to end a scramble in the circle.

New Zealand applied the early pressure and enjoyed 56% of the first-half possession. Japan goalkeeper Takashi Yoshikawa made two excellent penalty corner saves in the opening minutes, but the Black Sticks opened the scoring in the 14th minute.

Boyde won a penalty corner and Kane Russell flicked into the right corner for his milestone 100th goal in international hockey.

Japan were tenacious and well-organised in defence though, and New Zealand had to wait until a minute before halftime for their next goal. Japan gifted them a penalty corner by finding one of their own feet in their circle, and Russell's drag-flick hit the postman on the goal-line. The 34-year-old veteran then stepped up and buried the penalty stroke in the left corner.

The hammer blow to Japan's hopes happened straight from the restart when they gave away possession and Isaac Houlbrooke went on a weaving run to the baseline, before Boyde steered his cross into goal.

From being just 1-0 down with two minutes left in the first half, Japan suddenly went into the break 3-0 down, and worse was to come two minutes into the third quarter when Thomas showed lovely baseline skill to win another penalty corner. The ball was not trapped cleanly, but Malachi Buschl regained control and found Sam Lane in front of goal, New Zealand's captain deflecting in for a 4-0 lead.

Japan were finally on the scoreboard in the 44th minute when Jun Watanabe fired a penalty stroke into the left corner. Japan had earlier duffed two shots at goal but managed to scramble a penalty corner, with Hyota Yamada's flick hitting a defender on the goal-line.

The final quarter began promisingly for the world's 14th-ranked team as Manabu Yamashita sent a hard ball straight into the circle to Koji Yamasaki, who found Kazumasa Matsumoto, who shot home for their second goal.

But the World No. 11s regathered the earlier composure they had shown and quelled further Japanese attacks before having the final say via Boyde.

The 31-year-old from Wellington was also named Player of the Match and he admitted the Black Sticks had felt the pressure.

"We had some really good patches and parts we really need to tidy up. Today we played three good quarters but then a card upset us, Japan came at us and they put us under lots of pressure.

"But we're obviously very happy to finish undefeated and top of the pool, we would take that every time. The challenge today was the last quarter, so it was good to put the win away but there were lots of learnings.

"The crowd here are great and we look forward to the pressure they're going to put us under against South Africa. It's going to be a great game," Boyde said.

To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Men's Nations Cup 2025-26, click here.

FIH Hockey Men's Nations Cup 2025-26 – June 17, 2026

Hartleyvale Stadium

Cape Town, South Africa

Result: Match 15

Korea 1 - 2 Malaysia

Player of the match: Mohamad Anuar (MAS)

Umpires: Chad Fourie (RSA), Ayanna McClean (TTO), Kamile Mockaityte (LTH-video)

Result: Match 16

New Zealand 5 - 2 Japan

Player of the match: Scott Boyde (NZL)

Umpires: Munashe Mashoko (ZIM), Kamile Mockaityte (LTU), Alex Miles (CAN-video)

Friday's schedule

Match 17: 12h15 5/8 Malaysia v United States

Match 18: 14h30 5/8 Ireland v Scotland

Match 19: 16h45 SF France v Japan

Match 20: 19h00 SF New Zealand v South Africa

For match schedules, pools, team information and all tournament updates, click here.