Belgium beats India in shoot-out to finish seventh at Hockey World Cup

Shoot-out victory secures seventh place

Belgium's men's hockey team concluded their 2026 World Cup campaign on Friday with a seventh-place finish, defeating India 4-3 in a shoot-out following a 3-3 draw in regulation time. Playing before nearly 10,000 supporters at the Hockey Arena in Wavre, the Red Lions managed to avoid a closing defeat through goalkeeping by Vincent Vanasch. The Belgian goalkeeper saved two Indian shoot-out attempts, stopping efforts from Indian captain Harmanpreet and Sukhjeet. Roman Duvekot converted the final shoot-out chance to secure the win, with Guillaume Foubert recording Belgium's lone miss when his lob went over the crossbar.

Regulation goals and penalty corner conversion

India opened the scoring in the sixth minute through a field goal by Abhishek before Belgium responded in the second quarter. Roman Duvekot levelled the score in the 22nd minute, followed less than two minutes later by a penalty corner conversion from Hugo Labouchère. India equalized from a penalty corner in the 31st minute directly after halftime. Arthur De Sloover restored Belgium's lead in the 47th minute, but India capitalized on another penalty corner in the 60th minute to force the shoot-out. Belgium earned 10 penalty corners during the match, with Labouchère converting his single attempt after entering the starting lineup for Jack Vloeberghs, who had earlier replaced the injured Thomas Crols.

Self-criticism over tournament performance

The seventh-place result follows earlier tournament elimination for the 2018 world champions and 2023 runners-up, who missed the semi-finals after finishing fourth in second-round Group F following a 1-1 draw against Spain. Midfielder Victor Wegnez, who played throughout the tournament with two broken ribs, voiced dissatisfaction with team execution. Vanasch noted that Belgium generated scoring opportunities across the tournament without sufficient efficiency while conceding too easily in defence.

This World Cup will leave a bitter taste, but we are further along than at the last Euro. At the Euro, we were individualities. Here, we were more of a team. It is clear that the lack of efficiency cost us dearly, but the potential is there. We also just have to accept that we are no longer exceptional. Certain nations have overtaken us. We have to be lucid.

Evaluation of European hierarchy and future schedule

Belgian players addressed changes in the international competitive field ahead of next summer's European Championship. Wegnez noted that Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain currently lead Belgium in Europe, leaving the national team to compete for fourth position. The Red Lions are already qualified for the 2028 Olympic Games following their victory in the FIH Pro League. The squad received a one-week break before players resume domestic club commitments in ten days.

In the past, we sometimes trivialised European Championships. We will not have the right to do that. If we can win it, we will, but we must also look at ourselves in the mirror: we are no longer in the European top three. Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain are ahead of us. We are fighting for fourth place. We will have to progress to reach a podium that we have not had for a little while.