The Lions took another step in search of their first world title. This Monday in the Dutch city of Amstelveen, the Argentine National Team defeated India 5-3 in the second round and secured their place in the semifinals of the men's Hockey World Cup 2026, where they will face Germany.
The team coached by the Albiceleste came out to play with intensity from the start and quickly found the advantage. Only 40 seconds had passed when Joaquín Toscani appeared to score 1-0 and give the Argentine team some peace of mind.
The pressure on India's exit continued to yield results, and shortly after Nicolás Della Torre extended the lead after taking advantage of a short corner. With the score at 2-0, Argentina gained confidence and began to control the game with their speed and precision in the final meters.
Although India managed to score, their reaction did not last long. Tomás Domene once again demonstrated why he is one of the main offensive players of the team and scored two goals to bring the score to 4-1. One of them came from the penalty spot and was a significant blow to the Asian team.
In the final stretch, Lucas Toscani made a great individual play and scored the fifth Argentine goal to practically seal the qualification. Despite the fact that India managed to score twice towards the end and added some suspense to the outcome, the victory of The Lions was never really in jeopardy.
With the final score of 5-3, Argentina eliminated one of the historical powers of this sport and secured a spot in the semifinals, an instance they had not reached since the 2014 Hague edition, a tournament in which they ended up winning bronze. Now, the albiceleste team will face Germany this Friday the 28th at 15:30 in Amstelveen, who finished at the top of Group F, in search of a place in the World Cup final.
Meanwhile, the other semifinal will feature The Netherlands and Spain in the Belgian city of Wavre. That match will take place on the same day at 13:00, before the clash between Argentines and Germans.
