Toscani's early strike puts Argentina ahead of India in Pool E at Men's Hockey World Cup 2026
Argentina opened the scoring against India through Joaquin Toscani in the Pool E clash at the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2026 at Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen on August 24; the match was scheduled to begin at 6:15 pm IST.
India arrive at this fixture bottom of Pool E after a 2-4 defeat to England in the first round and a 1-3 loss to the Netherlands in their previous match, leaving Craig Fulton’s side with a goal difference of -4. England sit second in the pool on three points while Argentina are third with three points and a goal difference of 0, trailing England on goals scored, 4 to England’s 5. To reach the semifinals India must produce a large winning margin and rely on the outcome of the England v Netherlands game: a two-goal win would still require the Netherlands to beat England by three or more goals; a three-goal victory would put India on -1 and Argentina on -3 but would need England to lose to the Netherlands by at least two goals; a four-goal margin would make any England defeat sufficient, while an England draw would take them to four points and place them beyond India.
The match began with the customary pushback after the national anthems, and Argentina started aggressively, launching an early attack that finished with Joaquin Toscani scoring in the first minute. A tackle by Jarmanpreet conceded a penalty corner for Argentina shortly afterwards. A deliberate defensive attempt by Yash led to another penalty corner for Argentina, putting India under immediate pressure.
India goalkeeper Mohith responded with a save to deny a shot on target following one of Argentina’s circle entries, but India continued to struggle to settle possession as Argentina maintained an aggressive tempo. Khel Now opened live coverage for the India v Argentina Pool E match at 6:00 pm IST, providing play-by-play updates and analysis as the game unfolded.
Historically, India and Argentina have met eight times at the Men’s Hockey World Cup, with Argentina winning five of those encounters and India recording two wins in regulation time; their 1990 meeting finished 2-2 and was decided by a penalty shootout.
India’s remaining Pool E fixture against Argentina is decisive for their faint semifinal hopes and must be combined with the result of England v Netherlands to determine which teams progress to the knockout stage.