For the first time since 2022, New Zealand will not be in the final of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup after they lost in a shootout to hosts South Africa following a 2-2 draw in regulation time in their semifinal at Hartleyvale Stadium in Cape Town on Friday. France edged out Japan 4-3 in an enthralling semifinal that saw the teams locked at 3-3 at halftime. A goal-less third quarter followed, before Corentin Sellier came up with a superb finish for the winner in the 53rd minute.

A Tom Boon hat-trick guided Belgium’s men to a massive 6-0 win over Pakistan in front of their home crowd in Wavre, but the Belgian women lost just their second match of the season, going down to China. Over in London, Germany’s women bounced back to beat the Hockeyroos, who have a tough road ahead of them to avoid relegation, while the Kookaburras came from behind to get the better of Argentina. And in Rotterdam, Ireland pulled off an important 3-1 win over Spain to occupy seventh spot on the women’s table. In the other match of the evening, Germany’s men recovered from their loss to India a day earlier by beating the same side 2-1.