Germany and England’s men and the Netherlands and Argentina’s women all finished the day on top of their respective pools after a high-scoring round of action at the FIH Hockey World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands.
In a repeat of the last men’s FIH Hockey World Cup final, Germany and hosts Belgium faced off in a heavyweight showdown. And once again, it was the Germans who prevailed in an exhilarating encounter. The home side dominated the first half and did everything except find the back of the net. It was then the Germans who made the most of their first real scoring opportunity, Jakob Brilla firing in from a penalty corner in the 39th minute. That ultimately proved to be the difference between the sides, with the Belgians unable to convert any of their 26 circle entries compared with Germany’s 12 and six penalty corners to two.
Earlier in the day, the German women were not as fortunate despite coming from two goals down against Argentina. Las Leonas opened the scoring in the second minute, with all the remaining goals coming in a dramatic final quarter. Argentina doubled their lead from a penalty stroke, but Germany hit back through a diving Lisa Nolte strike before Sonja Zimmermann levelled from a penalty corner. Agustina Gorzelany then fired in her second of the match in the 56th minute, sealing a 3-2 victory for Argentina.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands women survived a fierce Australian fightback before pulling away late to seal a 4-2 victory. After plenty of end-to-end action, the Netherlands broke the deadlock in the 13th minute as Yibbi Jansen brought up her 100th international goal with a trademark power-packed flick. Joosje Burg then produced a sensational finish to double the Dutch lead, but Australia hit back just a minute later when Stephanie Kershaw dinked the ball over the keeper from a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-1. The Hockeyroos drew level in the 49th minute through Abigail Wilson’s penalty corner strike, but the Dutch regained the lead three minutes later with a lovely penalty-corner variation, with Burg grabbing her second. Marijn Veen then added a fourth from open play to seal a 4-2 win for the Netherlands.
After pushing world No. 1 Belgium all the way in their opener, France’s men were involved in another thriller as 14th-ranked Malaysia held them to a 3-3 draw. The Speedy Tigers struck first in the fifth minute, but Victor Charlet levelled from France’s first penalty corner. The French dominated the rest of the half, only to be denied a second goal by a sensational sliding goal-line save from Azimuddin Kamaruddin. France eventually took the lead in the third quarter, but Shello Silverius restored parity off a brilliant penalty-corner variation. Akhimullah Anuar then put Malaysia back in front with just over three minutes remaining in the match, prompting France to remove their goalkeeper in search of an equaliser. The gamble paid off, with Timothée Clément firing home with a minute to go. But the drama still wasn’t over. Fitri Saari appeared to have snatched a last-gasp winner with 30 seconds remaining, but the goal was disallowed for a back-stick infringement, leaving the sides locked on 3-3.
Malaysia’s Player of the Match, Akhimullah Anuar, said afterwards: “We got one point today. But unlucky, I think we should have three points today. We have played very good game. We bounced back after we lost against Germany.”
An entertaining encounter between the Pakistan and Wales men’s teams also ended in a 3-3 draw. Some sensational skill from Rehman Abdul saw Pakistan open the scoring in the third minute. But after Sufyan Khan was shown a five-minute yellow card in the second quarter, Wales capitalised on the numerical advantage, scoring twice in the space of a minute through Gareth Furlong and Rhys Bradshaw to take a 2-1 lead into half-time. Khan then redeemed himself by firing in the equaliser from a penalty corner in the 49th minute, before Hannan Shahid’s tap-in two minutes later put Pakistan back in front. Wales hit back once again, with Furlong converting a penalty stroke in the 53rd minute to make it 3-3. And while the Welsh created several chances in the closing stages, they were unable to find the winner.
England’s men overcame a determined India side to seal a 4-2 victory after an entertaining back-and-forth battle. England struck first when an aerial ball found Stuart Rushmere, who fed Nick Bandurak for a one-touch finish in the 13th minute. Just three minutes later, India levelled from a Harmanpreet Singh penalty corner before an unmarked Dilpreet Singh tapped in to put them 2-1 ahead. Rushmere restored parity with a fine finishing touch in the 38th minute, before Henry Croft struck four minutes later to put England back in front. Bandurak then put the result beyond doubt with his second goal from a 54th-minute penalty corner to wrap up a 4-2 win.
In other action, Japan’s women raced into a three-goal lead in the first half of their clash against Chile, opening the scoring in the eighth minute through Miyu Hasegawa’s well-executed penalty-corner deflection. Hiroka Murayama then pounced on a mistrap by a Chilean defender just outside the circle, slotting home to double the advantage in the 17th. Maho Ueno then added a third five minutes later with a superb penalty-corner flick into the top-left corner. An improved second-half showing from Chile kept Japan at bay, but the South Americans were unable to find a way through themselves as Japan held on for a 3-0 victory.
Japan’s Player of the Match Akari Nakagomi said afterwards: “I'm very happy that Japan was finally able to win in this second match… I think it was a really great result because everyone on the team passed the ball, connected from the defence, all the way out to the corners and turned it into points.”
The USA’s women made a fast start in their match against Scotland, with 17-year-old Reese D’Ariano firing a powerful reverse-stick strike into the net from the top of the circle in the fourth minute. A clever penalty-corner variation then had the bagpipers in the crowd going as Scotland drew level in the 10th. The Americans regained the lead in the 24th minute after a defensive mix-up gifted Sophia Gladieux time and space to finish, before a penalty-corner goal in the third quarter put the USA 3-1 ahead. Scotland hit back just a minute later from a penalty corner of their own, but the USA held on to claim a 3-2 victory.
17 August 2026 Results
Women
Result: Match 9 (W)
Chile 0 - 3 Japan (Pool A)
Player of the match: Akari Nakagomi (JPN)
Umpires: Alison Keogh (IRL), Ayanna McClean (TTO), Rawi Anbananthan (MAS-video)
Result: Match 10 (W)
USA 3 - 2 Scotland (Pool B)
Player of the match: Reese D’Ariano (USA)
Umpires: Hannah Harrison (ENG), Victoria Pazos (PAR), Kristy Robertson (AUS-video)
Result: Match 11 (W)
Germany 2 - 3 Argentina (Pool B)
Player of the match: Maria Granatto (ARG)
Umpires: Aleisha Neumann (AUS), Rachel Williams (ENG), Xiaoying Liu (CHN-video)
Result: Match 12 (W)
Australia 2 - 4 Netherlands (Pool A)
Player of the match: Marijn Veen (NED)
Umpires: Laurine Delforge (BEL), Annelize Rostron (RSA), Amber Church (NZL-video)
Men
Result: Match 9 (M)
Pakistan 3 - 3 Wales (Pool D)
Player of the match: Toby Reynolds-Cotterill (WAL)
Umpires: Steve Rogers (AUS), Sean Edwards (ENG), Sean Rapaport (RSA-video)
Result: Match 10 (M)
France 3 - 3 Malaysia (Pool B)
Player of the match: Akhimullah Anuar (MAS)
Umpires: Sarah Wilson (SCO), Hong-Zhen Lim (SGP), David Tomlinson (NZL-video)
Result: Match 11 (M)
India 2 - 4 England (Pool D)
Player of the match: Stuart Rushmere (ENG)
Umpires: Ben Goentgen (GER), Jonas van’t Hek (NED), Zeke Newman (AUS-video)
Result: Match 12 (M)
Germany 1 - 0 Belgium (Pool B)
Player of the match: Jakob Brilla (GER)
Umpires: Coen van Bunge (NED), Gareth Greenfield (NZL), Michiel Otten (NED-video)
