Junior Hockey World Cup 2025: India faces tough test against Belgium in quarterfinal
Having cruised through its Pool B campaign with a dominant record — 29 goals scored, and none conceded — India’s true challenge begins on Friday as it faces Belgium in the FIH Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup 2025 quarterfinals at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
Coached by PR Sreejesh, the Indian squad knows its stellar pool performance against weaker opponents, Chile, Oman, and Switzerland, is now irrelevant. Any slip-up now will instantly crush its dream of winning the title at home, a feat it last achieved in 2016.
While the forward line, spearheaded by Dilraj Singh (6 goals) and Manmeet Singh (5), has been prolific, and the midfield—led by Rosan Kujur—has been solid, coach Sreejesh has highlighted areas for improvement.
“From the next match onwards, the real tournament is starting,” Sreejesh warned, emphasising the need to convert circle entries into goals or penalty corners and, crucially, to “tighten our defence” to avoid conceding unwanted penalty corners.
The persistent concern regarding penalty corner conversion must also be addressed. Although there was improvement in the last pool game with Sharda Nand Tiwari netting twice, players like Rohit and Anmol Ekka must significantly increase their strike rate against Belgium’s quality defence.
India cannot afford to take the Young Red Lions lightly. While Belgium finished as Pool D runner-up behind Spain, it is one of the most dangerous attacking sides in the tournament.
ALSO READ | Birendra Lakra looks to inspire next generation as tactical voice in India camp
Belgium boasts the third-best scoring record in the pool stages, having tallied an impressive 22 goals, which were equally split between field goals and penalty corners.
The largely untested Indian defence will face its sternest examination yet. While the backline was virtually untested in the first two matches, the 5-0 victory over Switzerland did force goalkeepers Prince Deep Singh and Bikramjit Singh to make excellent saves to preserve the clean sheet.
The defensive unit, led by skipper Rohit, Talem Priyobarta, and Amir Ali, will need to deliver their absolute best performance to withstand the Belgian pressure on both the general defensive structure and its penalty corner defence.
In the other quarterfinals, Spain will take on New Zealand, France will play Germany in a repeat of last edition’s final and the Netherlands will be up against Argentina.
Published on Dec 04, 2025