Leading up to the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29, here is how many times India has won the hockey World Cup title.
The eight-time Olympic champion India faltered at the World Cups, failing to live up to expectations.
The Indian men’s hockey team defeated neighbours and arch-rivals Pakistan to lift the trophy for the very first time at the 1975 edition held in Kuala Lumpur.
It’s India’s sole World Cup title in comparison to Pakistan’s four.
India’s road to World Cup glory
Third time was the charm for India, which had lost to Pakistan in inaugural 1971 World Cup semifinal and had to finish with a bronze after defeating Kenya in the third-place playoff.
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In the second World Cup, yet again India faced Pakistan, however, this time it was able to avenge its previous edition semifinal loss to set up the final with Netherlands. A two goal lead by India was equalised and a penalty shootout followed. The Dutch thrashed India 4-2 to become the first team to win the World Cup on home soil.
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In 1975, the tournament was held in Asia for the first time, which had Balbir Singh Sr as the team manager, Gurcharan Singh Bodhi as coach and Ajit Pal Singh leading the side.
The Men in Blue beat West Germany, England and Ghana, drew with Australia and lost to Argentina to top the group and set up a semifinal clash with host Malaysia.
Harcharan Singh’s goal in extra-time brought life back to the Indian camp as it beat Malaysia 3-2. With Pakistan, the only nation stopping it from lifting the trophy, India had a huge task in hand.
In the final, Pakistan’s Zahid Sheikh scored the first goal in the 17th minute to raise the pressure for the Indians, who managed to equalise it thanks to Surjit Singh’s penalty corner in the second half.
However, the main highlight of the match was when Dhyan Chand’s son, Ashok Kumar scored the winner in the 51st minute. While, Pakistan questioned the legitimacy of the goal, umpire G. Vijayanathan stood by his decision. As the hooter blew, India was crowned World Champions for the first time.
