Argentina beat Netherlands on penalties at Women's Hockey World Cup in Amstelveen

Argentina overcame the Netherlands in a penalty shootout after a late equaliser to win at the Women's Hockey World Cup at Wagener Stadion in Amstelveen on Saturday. The match finished 1-1 after normal time and Argentina prevailed 3-1 in the shootout.

The match took place on a chilly evening at the Wagener Stadion, where the Netherlands had entered as heavy favourites given their recent dominance, having lost only one game a year over the past 13 years while lifting three successive World Cups. Argentina's victory avenged their defeat to the Dutch in the 2022 final and generated celebrations in the visitors' camp as they silenced a partisan home crowd at what the report described as one of the sport's cathedrals.

Open play was subdued as both sides struggled to impose themselves, leaving set-piece specialists to shape the scoreline. The first penalty corner arrived in the 30th minute, when Yibbi Jansen, described as the tournament's top-scorer, converted to give the hosts the lead.

Argentina missed four penalty-corner opportunities in the third quarter but continued to probe, with Sofia Cairo's penetrating runs into the circle repeatedly troubling the Dutch defence and winning several penalty corners. Those attacks kept Argentina in the contest even after their early wastefulness from set pieces.

With seven minutes remaining, Argentina varied their penalty-corner routine: Agustina Gorzelany's dragpush found a teammate who deflected the ball to an unmarked Maria Granatto, who scored from a 53rd-minute penalty corner to level the match at 1-1.

The match was decided by penalties, where goalkeeper Cristina Cosentino saved two Netherlands shots. Sofia Cairo then converted in the shootout to make it 3-1 and spark jubilant scenes in the Argentina camp; the final shootout score was Argentina 3, Netherlands 1.

In the third-place play-off, co-host Belgium defeated Australia 1-0 with a goal from Charlotte Engelbert. The official match result listed Netherlands 1 (Yibbi Jansen 30-pc) drew with Argentina 1 (Maria Granatto 53-pc), with Argentina winning 3-1 on penalties.