Pool A : Netherlands, Pakistan, England, USSR, Argentina, New Zealand
Pool B : Australia, West Germany, Spain, India, Canada, Poland

India's Match Results :

• In celebration of the centenary celebrations of the Hockey Association, formed on January 18, 1886, in London, the sixth World Cup tournament was awarded to England.
  
  
• The story of the sixth World Cup is the story of traditional rivals England and Australia. Asian giants Pakistan and India had their worst showing ever, finishing 11th and 12th respectively, behind Poland, New Zealand and Canada. European giant Holland did not even make it to the semi-finals, finishing 7th, in their second worst showing ever.
  
  
• Two-time defending champions Pakistan opened their campaign in Pool A suffering a defeat at the hands of Argentina 1-3. India responded by losing to Poland 0-1. The so-called Indian penalty corner experts could not convert a single penalty corner, of the 10 that were awarded to them. Then it was the turn of Holland to beat Pakistan 2-1, and like good neighbours, India lost by a similar margin to Spain. In that match, Pargat Singh was sent off the field for striking Figar on his head with his stick.
  
  
• Pakistan made amends by beating New Zealand 5-3, while India beat Canada 2-0, thus avenging her 1-3 loss to Canada in the 1978 World Cup. England put Pakistan out of its World Cup misery by beating them 3-1, while Australia administered a 6-0 drubbing to India, scoring 3 goals in each half. USSR joined the club by beating Pakistan 2-0, while India managed to draw 2-2 with Germany. Both India and Pakistan had won just once in 5 matches. India had conceded double the number of goals (11) that it scored (5) in those 5 league matches.
  
  
• The previous time India and Pakistan had met in the World Cup was in the 1975 final, won by India. This time, India and Pakistan were meeting to decide the last place. Pakistan beat India to finish 11th, relegating India to a humiliating 12th and last in the World Cup. Asian hockey had become a subject of ridicule. Europe had comprehensively overtaken Asia in hockey.
  
  
• Pakistan's worst ever showing was in the 1986 World Cup. The lowest number of goals scored by Pakistan in a World Cup competition was 12 overall in London 1986. In the same tournament, they conceded the highest number of goals in a World Cup competition, 17.
  
  
• In a tough Pool A, England, USSR and Holland all won 4 matches out of 5, but Holland had to bow out on goal average. England beat West Germany 3-2 in extra-time in one semi-final, while Australia thrashed USSR 5-0 in the other. Australia beat England 3-2 in front of a capacity crowd to win their first and only World Cup title. Australian captain Ric Charlesworth was the top goal scorer with 7 goals in the tournament.
  
  
• The 1986 World Cup final marked the first time that neither India or Pakistan made the World Cup final.
  
  
• The usual excuses followed for India's worst ever performance. In the Asia Cup at Dhaka, preceding the Seoul Asian Games and the London World Cup, 5 Indian players were suspended by the FIH for 2 years for assaulting an umpire. Among the five were 3 pillars of the Indian team - Merwyn Fernandes, Rajinder Singh and Hardeep Singh. Also, both India and Pakistan flew in directly from the Seoul Asiad, battered and bruised, having lost the Asiad gold to South Korea. Excuses aside, millions of hockey fans in India felt ashamed at their team's performance. This poor showing set back the game of hockey by a decade in India. Pakistan was made of sterner stuff, reaching the finals in the next World Cup (1990 - Lahore), and winning the following World Cup (1994 - Sydney).

Final Standings :

Indian Team :

Mohammad Shaheed (captain), R. S. Rawat, Neel Kamal Singh, Pargat Singh, Mohinder Pal Singh, Vineet Kumar, M. Somayya, Joaquim Carvalho, Abdul Aziz, Hardeep Singh, Tikken Singh, Marcellus Gomes, Jagbir Singh, Balwinder Singh, Thoiba Singh, Ram Prakash Singh

Coach : Ajitpal Singh; Manager: D. S. Murthy