India to face Netherlands in Round 2 of FIH Women's Hockey World Cup 2026 — H2H record

The Indian women's hockey team secured a place in round two of the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026 and will meet hosts, reigning champions and No. 1-ranked Netherlands in Round 2 Pool E on Friday. India reached the second phase after finishing second in Pool D.

India opened their World Cup campaign with a 2-2 draw against China, followed by a 6-1 victory over South Africa and a 0-0 draw with England in the pool finale, which left them second in Pool D. The Netherlands arrive with a strong World Cup résumé, having won nine of the last 14 tournaments and not missing a final since 2006.

In the history of the FIH Women's Hockey World Cup the two sides have met six times, with India victorious on one occasion and the Netherlands winning the remaining matches. The most recent World Cup meeting between the nations came at the 2010 tournament in Rosario, Argentina, when the Netherlands defeated India 7-1 in a Pool A game.

India's solitary World Cup victory over the Dutch occurred at the inaugural edition in 1974 in France, where India won 1-0 in a group-stage match. That 1974 campaign also produced India's best World Cup finish, as they went on to place fourth in the tournament.

Subsequent World Cup meetings saw India lose to the Netherlands in Madrid in 1978 and in Kuala Lumpur in 1983. The teams met again in Madrid in 2006, where the Netherlands recorded another World Cup victory over India.

Outside the World Cup, India produced a notable result in February 2025 during the FIH Pro League in Bhubaneswar, beating the Netherlands in a shootout after clawing back from 0-2 down; that win followed a first-leg 2-4 loss to the same opponents days earlier. Team India would look to rewrite their own history on Friday.

India's next confirmed fixture is the Round 2 Pool E clash against the Netherlands at the FIH Hockey World Cup Belgium & Netherlands 2026 on Friday, a match described in the coverage as the country's toughest assignment of the tournament so far.