Hockey World Cup 2023: India Team Profile

India may be the most successful team in the history of the Olympics but they have enjoyed little success at the Men's World Cup. While they reached the semi-finals in the first edition of the tournament and the final in the next two, they have since failed to make the last four in any of the tournaments since.

India were beaten by eventual champions and arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1 in the semi-final of the inaugural World Cup. They then reached the final in 1973, this time beating Pakistan in the semi-finals 1-0. They then lost the final to the Netherlands in a penalty shootout 4-2 after the match itself ended 2-2.

India finally won their first, and thus far only, title after beating Pakistan 2-1 in a thrilling final in 1975. Zahid Sheikh had put Pakistan ahead in the 17th minute of the match. India, however, managed to equalise through Surjit Sing in the 44th minute. Ashok Kumar, son of the legendary Major Dhyan Chand, then put the Indians ahead in the 51st minute.

That turned out to be the winning goal as the Indians held on and thus they came home with the trophy. The World Cup since then has been a tale of disappointment for India. They were knocked out in the quarter-finals in 2018, losing 2-1 to the Netherlands.

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