India to face Pakistan in Asian Games men's hockey semi-final at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium on Oct 1

India and Pakistan meet in the men’s hockey semi-final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games on Thursday, October 1, at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium in Kakamigahara, Japan; the match starts at 4:30 pm local time (1:00 pm IST).

India enter the semi-final as the defending Asian Games champions after completing Pool A with five wins from five matches and a +45 goal difference. They finished the group stage with a 10-0 win over Bangladesh played in heavy rain, and captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick with all three goals coming from penalty corners.

Pakistan’s attack has been built around penalty corners throughout the tournament, with Sufyan Khan scoring 11 goals in five games, each from a penalty corner. Pakistan advanced to the last four after a 7-2 victory over Oman and suffered a narrow group-stage defeat to Malaysia.

The teams last met at the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 in Amstelveen on August 19, where India won 5-3 and advanced to the second round. At the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, India beat Pakistan 10-2, which was the heaviest defeat Pakistan have faced against India in this fixture. Drawn in different pools at the current Asian Games, this semi-final is the pair’s first encounter at the tournament.

India squad: Mohith HS (gk), Suraj Karkera (gk), Jarmanpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (c), Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay Rana, Sumit, Yashdeep Siwach, Rajinder Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Dilpreet Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Abhishek Nain.

Pakistan squad: Waqar Ali (gk), Ali Raza (gk), Abu Bakar Mahmood (c), Muhammad Abdullah, Sufyan Khan, Moin Shakeel, Waheed Rana, Hannan Shahid, Zikriya Hayat, Arshad Liaqat, Adeel Latif, Ahmad Nadeem, Ghazanfar Ali, Ammad Butt, Muhammad Hammadudin, Abdul Rehman, Afraz Hakeem, Umar Mustafa, Abdul Manan, Muhammad Ammad.

Sony Sports Network is the official broadcaster of the 2026 Asian Games in India; viewers in India can watch the semi-final on Sony Sports Network television channels or stream it live on the SonyLIV app and website. The winner of the semi-final will advance to the Asian Games final and the tournament champion will secure direct qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics.