India beat Germany 3-1 in Amstelveen to finish fifth at FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2026
The Indian women’s hockey team defeated World No. 5 Germany 3-1 in Amstelveen on 29 August 2026 to secure fifth place at the FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup 2026, India’s best finish at a World Cup since 1974.
India completed the tournament with one defeat from six matches, a run that included encounters with higher-ranked China, England, Australia and reigning champions World No. 1 Netherlands. Their campaign produced two wins, three draws and one loss, one of the victories being a 6-1 win over South Africa, while draws came against England, Australia and China and the solitary defeat was a 0-2 loss to the Netherlands.
The classification match against Germany was scoreless at half-time as Germany controlled possession early and earned a few penalty corners. India created chances down the right flank with Baljeet Kaur and Sakshi Rana combining, and goalkeeper Bichu Devi and the Indian defence kept the score level going into the break.
The game opened up after the interval when Ishika broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute with a solo effort. Navneet Kaur converted a penalty corner barely a minute later to make it 2-0 and then scored again in the 47th minute after beating two defenders. Germany’s Lynn Krings reduced the deficit in the 59th minute but India held on to win 3-1.
India finished the World Cup with nine points from six matches, a campaign record that the coaching staff described as historic for the young squad. The fifth-place result is the nation’s best showing at the tournament in 52 years.
Coach Sjoerd Marijne praised the collective effort and singled out the team’s youth and debutants. “No, that’s not one player. We are one team, I’m not going to name one player. But yeah, if you have 11 debutants, then you can guess yourself. If I have to name one, today Lalthantluangi played her first match at the World Cup. That’s not easy, that’s very difficult and I think she did today really well. So compliments for her,” he said. Marijne also stressed the search for consistency across the tournament: “No, because you cannot always rank the best performance on the goals you’re scoring and if you’re winning. I think against China we played well, against England we played well. The only match actually we didn’t play really well was against Australia. We know that and we are searching for consistency and that is where we need to work on,” he said.
Strength and conditioning coach Dr Wayne Lombard outlined the physical progression behind the result, recalling a large injury list in the squad earlier in the year: “When we came in January….we had a list of about 20 injuries, and now we’re at a point where we’re playing for 5th place in the World Cup and coming fifth, playing against a team like Germany,” he said. He linked physical preparation to confidence: “I think if we got the physical part right, I think the mental part also helps take care of itself a little bit. They come in with confidence, knowing that they can compete at the highest level from a physical perspective and that’s what we want.” Lombard added that the team trusted the preparation and process: “I think the process is 100% right and the outcome takes care of itself and at the moment I think we’re sometimes a little bit too worried about the outcome instead of just putting the process in place and today we showed that we didn’t care about the outcome but we played really good hockey and the outcome took care of itself,” he said, and commented on the influence of the Hockey India League on player mindset: “Definitely think it’s important; I think what we’ve seen is that the players come out of their shells. The difference I see between pre and post-Hockey India League is that the players know some of these players now; they played with them. So they don’t fear the foreign players anymore. They come in and play freely, they’re more open, they speak to them, they understand their languages, they share different cultures. I think it’s massive not only from a hockey perspective but from a life experience perspective, not only for the Indian players but for the foreign players as well.”
“Of course I am satisfied, but I am a coach who always wants more. This moment now is to enjoy what the girls have achieved. They have written history with a young team, and I think that is amazing, but we need to recover now and take all the positives to the Asian Games,” Marijne said, identifying recovery and preparation for the Asian Games as the immediate next focus for the side.