India in the World Cup - A Factfile
Arun Arnaw
Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh
| World Cup Hockey | ||
| |
India in the World Cup - A Factfile Arun Arnaw |
|
| India's Performance Over the Years | ||
India's Win-Loss Record in the World Cup
In the first 3 World Cups, India lost only one match during the entire tournament. In the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, India won only one match during the entire tournament.
Ajitpal Singh is the only player to have captained India in two World Cups. Ashok Kumar represented India a maximum of 4 times in the World Cup - but never once as a captain.
Read on for the list of India's captains and their win-loss record in the World Cup.
| Year | Venue | Captain | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Position |
| 1971 | Barcelona | Ajitpal Singh | 6 | 5 | - | 1 | 8 | 3 | Bronze |
| 1973 | Amsterdam | M. P. Ganesh | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 3 | Silver |
| 1975 | Kuala Lumpur | Ajitpal Singh | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 8 | Gold |
| 1978 | Buenos Aires | V. J. Phillips | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 6th |
| 1982 | Mumbai | Surjeet Singh | 7 | 5 | - | 2 | 29 | 15 | 5th |
| 1986 | London | Mohd. Shaheed | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 12th |
| 1990 | Lahore | Pargat Singh | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 10th |
| 1994 | Sydney | Jude Felix | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 5th |
| 1998 | Utrecht | Dhanraj Pillai | 7 | 3 | - | 4 | 13 | 19 | 9th |
India's Opponents in the World Cup
India has never won against Netherlands in their 5 meetings in the World Cup. In contrast, India has never lost to England in their 4 meetings in the World Cup.
Netherlands (20-10), Germany (16-8) and Australia (12-6) have scored double the number of goals that India has scored against them. Japan and Ghana have not scored any goal against India in the World Cup.
India's record against various countries in the 9 World Cup tournaments held so far is given below.
| Opponent | First Match | P | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| Germany | 1971 (won 1-0) | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| Argentina | 1971 (won 1-0) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 12 |
| Australia | 1975 (drawn 1-1) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Netherlands | 1973 (drawn 2-2) | 5 | - | 1 | 4 | 10 | 20 |
| New Zealand | 1973 (drawn 1-1) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| Pakistan | 1971 (lost 1-2) | 4 | 2 | - | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| England | 1975 (won 2-1) | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | 8 | 4 |
| Poland | 1978 (won 3-1) | 3 | 2 | - | 1 | 9 | 4 |
| Spain | 1973 (won 2-0) | 3 | 1 | - | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Russia | 1982 (won 7-2) | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | 13 | 4 |
| Canada | 1978 (lost 1-3) | 4 | 2 | - | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Belgium | 1978 (won 1-0) | 2 | 2 | - | - | 5 | 2 |
| Kenya | 1971 (won 2-0) | 3 | 3 | - | - | 8 | 1 |
| Malaysia | 1975 (won 3-2) | 2 | 2 | - | - | 9 | 4 |
| France | 1971 (won 1-0) | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| South Korea | 1994 (won 2-0) | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Japan | 1973 (won 5-0) | 1 | 1 | - | - | 5 | 0 |
| Ghana | 1975 (won 7-0) | 1 | 1 | - | - | 7 | 0 |
| South Africa | 1994 (drawn 2-2) | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 | 2 |
The India Factfile
It has been 27 years since India won any medal at the World Cup. Only 3 Indians have scored more than 2 goals in a single World Cup match. Only 2 Indians have participated in 4 World Cup tournaments.
An India in the World Cup factfile is presented below.
| Category | Factfile |
| Tournaments Participated | 9 |
| Win-Loss Record | Played 63, Won 31, Drawn 9, Lost 23 |
| Medals Won | Bronze (1971), Silver (1973), Gold (1975) |
| Biggest Margin of Victory | 7-0 vs. Ghana (1975) 7-2 vs. USSR (1982) 5-0 vs. Japan (1973) |
| Biggest Margin of Loss | 0-7 vs. Germany (1978) 0-6 vs. Australia (1986) 0-5 vs. Netherlands (1998) |
| Most Goals Scored | 29 in Mumbai (1982) |
| Most Goals Conceded | 19 in Utrecht (1998) |
| Most Individual Goals | 12 by Rajinder Singh (1982) 6 by Surjeet Singh (1973) |
| Most Aggregate Goals | 12 by Rajinder Singh (all in 1982) 11 by Surjeet Singh (6-1973, 2-1975, 3-1982) |
| Three Goals in a Match | 3 by Mohinder Singh vs. Ghana (1975) 3 by Rajinder Singh vs. Malaysia (1982) 3 by Rajinder Singh vs. New Zealand (1982) 3 by Mukesh Kumar vs. Poland (1998) |
| Players in Most World Cups | 4 by Ashok Kumar (1971, 1973, 1975, 1978) 4 by Dhanraj Pillai (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002) |
