Hockey World Cup 2023: India will start the tournament against Spain, know which team has the upper hand

The Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 will begin with the match between Argentina and South Africa at 1:00 PM in Bhubaneswar. A total of four matches are to be played on this day. Hosts India will also open the tournament by playing the final match of the day. India and Spain will be played at Rourkela’s Birsa Munda Stadium from 7 pm.

 

India will enter this World Cup looking to end their drought of 48 years. At the same time, the opposition team will also try their best to win the first World Cup title. Even before this World Cup, there have been many matches between India and Spain. Let us know which of the two teams has the upper hand.

 

According to statistics, a total of 30 matches have been played between India and Spain since 1948. Out of these, India’s team has won 13 matches while Spain’s team has won 11 matches. There have been six draws between the two teams. Let us tell you that the last time India played the first match with Spain in the Pro League match in February 2022, in which Spain won 5-3. In the second match of the Pro League, India won 5-4. At the same time, in the Tokyo Olympics held in the year 2020, India defeated Spain 3-0.

 

The Indian team won the bronze medal in the first World Cup held in the year 1971, followed by the silver medal in the year 1973. Since then, the performance of the Indian team in the World Cup has been quite disappointing. Till the year 2014, the Indian team could never succeed even in crossing the group stage. At the same time, during the World Cup held in the year 2018, the Indian team reached the quarter-finals. However, the team’s World Cup journey ended after losing to the Netherlands team in the quarterfinal match.

 

This time the Indian team is a strong contender to win the World Cup. The Indian team is at number six in the world rankings. India also secured the third position in the FIH Pro League. It is believed that the performance of the Indian team is continuously improving. In the year 2019, Graham Reid was made the coach of the Indian team, after which the Indian team has been performing consistently. Reid has succeeded in getting the best out of the players. Reid said in an interview that even during practice, players play keeping in mind the conditions of the match. Practicing such a game has greatly benefited the players.

 

Goalkeepers: Krishna Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (Captain), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas (Vice-Captain), Neelam Sanjeep

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Neelkant Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh

Alternate players: Rajkumar Pal, Jugraj Singh

Head Coach: Graham Reid