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Navneet brace helps Indian women beat Germany 3-1; the fifth finish team's second-best in hockey World Cup history
In the inaugural 1974 World Cup, the Indian women had finished fourth. Their fifth position in the 2026 edition is their best since.
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Finally there is something to celebrate as India Women finish their hockey World Cup campaign on a winning note in Amstelveen. In what was a classification match, the team beat two-time champions Germany in a rather convincing manner. Navneet Kaur scored a brace as the Indian women's hockey team defeated the European team 3-1 to finish a creditable fifth on Thursday.
After a barren first half, India scored two goals in the third quarter. Ishika gave India the lead in the 43rd minute through a field goal before Navneet converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute. Navneet scored her second goal of the day in the 47th minute, this time from a field effort. Lynn Krings pulled one back for Germany through a field goal in the 59th minute.
It was India's second-best finish in women's World Cup history. Previously, in the inaugural edition way back in 1974, they had finished fourth, the only time India reached the last four, where they lost to Argentina, and later finished fourth after coming a cropper in the third-place playoff against West Germany.
This time around the team under Salima Tete had gone in with a lot of hope to achieve their best finish ever but they failed to reach the semifinals after a 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands and a goalless draw against Australia in the second phase of the tournament.
In the first phase of the tournament, they drew with China 2-2, beat South Africa 6-1 and picked up another goalless draw against England. The team was very good in defence but couldn't score goals and that was primarily the reason why they failed to make the semis, and ultimately had to head to the classification game against Germany. But considering it's their second-best finish in tournament history, they will take it.
