A first-time finalist, a team now eyeing it’s eighth title, and two sides with broken hearts – that was the story of the semi-finals day at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup in Chennai on Sunday. In other words, Spain entered their maiden final, defending champions Germany made it to their 10thtitle match and the hopes of a third trophy for India and Argentina ended.
The two semi-finals had contrasting scripts, where Spain had to fight it out before edging Argentina 2-1 and Germany dominated India in a one-sided 5-1 victory.
The day also saw Belgium and Netherlands registering wins in their quest for a fifth-place finish.
Here’s a lowdown on the proceedings from the four action-packed encounters:
Belgium vs France (Full-Time Score: 3-2)
Looking to put their quarter-final defeats behind, European neighbours Belgium and France began their quest for finishing as high as possible in the 5/8-position playoffs, and the desperation to win showed in the nature of the battle, which was fierce, at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai.
Belgium had lost their quarter-final to India in a dramatic shootout, while France too tested defending champions Germany in their last-eight match but ended up on the losing side in the shootout.
The caginess of the two teams kept the game goalless in the first quarter. Once settled, both the teams executed their plans better, resulting in two goals in the next 15 minutes. France were the first to get on the board, when James Liddiard produced a clinical finish to put his team ahead in the 22ndminute. Belgium responded almost immediately, equalising through Mathis Lauwers four minutes later. It remained 1-1 at the half-time hooter.
France restored their lead, this time off a penalty corner, which Tassilo Sura converted in the 35thminute. France protected their 2-1 lead for the next 10 minutes to stay in front during the last two-minute quarter break.
It was still anybody’s game in the final quarter with just one goal separating the two teams. But it didn’t take long for the Belgians to make things even. Maximilian Langer scored the goal that made it 2-2 in the 46thminute, setting up a thrilling climax.
While it looked the game had more than one goal in it in the remaining time, it produced just one; and it was Belgium who cut through the French defence to create a penalty corner in the 58thminute and scored the winning goal through Hugo Labouchere to win 3-2.
“It was very important for us to bounce back and win this game. It’s never easy and today we showed what we are made of,” said Belgium captain Lucas Balthazar. “We played a really good game against India (in the quarter-final), lost it in the shootout and now we are playing for fifth place. Even if we didn’t play our best game today, it was important to win and bounce back.”
New Zealand vs Netherlands (Full-Time Score: 3-6)
Netherlands lived up to their potential to put the disappointment of quarter-final defeat against Argentina behind and went past New Zealand 6-3 in their 5/8 placement match in Chennai.
New Zealand, who had fought valiantly before losing to Spain in the quarter-final, were the clear-second best against the Dutch, who dictated the majority of the game, led by their in-form striker and captain Casper van der Veen’s hat-trick. That took van der Veen’s tally of tournament goals to 9 – behind the leading scorer Amirul Islam of Bangladesh with 15 goals.
The Blacks Sticks had the hero of their own in Jonty Elmes, who also scored a hat-trick and took his count of goals to 9 as well; but the way Netherlands began and kept consolidating their lead through the match, Elmes’s effort proved futile.
The Dutch strikers began like a force in a hurry to put the game beyond the New Zealanders. Three goals in the first eight minutes – two from van der Veen and one from Peppe Veen – put the Black Sticks in chasing mode. While Elmes cut that lead to 3-1 in the 18thminute, the Orange army added two more goals for an overwhelming 5-1 lead. Jan van’t Land provided the finishing touch to a field goal and Joppe Wolbert converted a penalty stroke. Elmes kept fighting for New Zealand – producing his second goal a minute before half time to reduce the Dutch lead to 5-2.
Van der Veen completed his hat-trick in the 36thminute to swell Netherlands’s lead to 6-2, and while the tempo of the game could have produced many more goals in the last two quarters, the next 22 minutes only produced close misses. Even as Elmes struck for the third time in the 59thminute, the writing was on the wall for New Zealand, who lost 6-3.
“I think I enjoyed scoring the last one (goal). It was high, backhand, out of (thin) air. So I am really happy with that,” said Netherlands captain van der Veen after the match.
First Semi-final: Spain vs Argentina (Full-Time Score: 2-1)
Spain scripted history on the Chennai turf, entering their first ever FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup final as they eked out a 2-1 win to knock over two-time champions Argentina.
Spain’s tactics to exert early pressure yielded immediate results, as a ricochet during a 7th-minute penalty-corner set-piece fell at the stick of Mario Mena who made no mistake in putting his team ahead 1-0.
The two sides kept exchanging blows, including near misses, until the 21stminute when Argentina finally converted a penalty corner through Juan Fernandez to bring the game on an even keel. It remained 1-1 at the half-time hooter.
The story of so-near-yet-so-far continued for Argentina in the goal-less third quarter, and better part of the fourth, while they had their chances both on field plays as well as set pieces.
The game went on tenterhooks as the clock started racing during the last 10 minutes of the match. Spain too had their fair share of chances in between, but unlike the Argentines, they capitalized on one of those in the 56thminute to stun their South American opponents. A long ball directed towards the Argentine circle got a touch from Albert Serrahima, and the same was ratified by the video umpire.
Argentina’s last penalty corner seconds before the final whistle gave them a chance to force a shootout, but Spain survived that. Hugs and high-fives followed, as the Spaniards celebrated their historic run into the final to change the colour of their two past bronze medals (2005 and 2023).
“It feels amazing. I dreamt of this a lot, also during the last World Cup, just like now. Today we have achieved what we wanted. It hasn’t been easy, but now we are in the final,” said Spain goalkeeper Jan Capellades.
Second Semi-final: India vs Germany (Full-Time Score: 1-5)
Germany, the most successful team in the history of FIH Junior Men’s World Cup, will have a crack at winning their eight title having booked their 10thentry into the final when they broke the heart of home fans in Chennai on Sunday with a comprehensive 5-1 win over India in the second semifinal.
Defending champions Germany will now meet first-time finalists Spain for the title on Wednesday.
The Germans dominated the Indian team in every department of the game, which was showcased in their three field goals, five penalty corners compared to India’s one, penetrating attacks and a better defensive gameplan than the hosts.
The game all but slipped out of reach for India in the very first quarter. Germany drew first blood when Lucas Kossel calmly put away a penalty stroke late in the 14thminute, after Quirin Nahr’s flick hit Ankit Pal on the body standing at the goal-line, and the umpire pointed at the spot to signal a penalty stroke.
The second German goal was an unfortunate one for India, as Titus Wex’s hit from inside the circle brushed Sunil Bennur’s stick and went into the goal just before the first two-minute break. The second quarter ended in a similar fashion, with Kossel collecting his second goal off a penalty corner to make it 3-0 at half-time.
With the crowd stunned into silence and India looking out of sorts, Jonas von Gersum made the scoreline more favourable for Germany with a fourth goal in the 40thminute. Captain Ben Hasbach turned it into a ‘five-star’ performance with a brilliant run to collect an aerial ball that split open India’s defence; and despite the angle getting narrowed at the near post after he beat the Indian goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh, Hasbach lunged full length to direct the ball into the goal for a 5-0 lead.
Anmol Ekka converted India’s only penalty corner of the match in the 51stminute, but by then the game was way beyond the home team’s reach.
“It’s unbelievable! I think it was a great team performance. It was for sure our best game in the whole World Cup. Now it’s down to the last game (final), so we have to win,” said Germany’s Titus Wex, who also reflected on his team’s run in the tournament. “Our beginning was quite good; we scored a lot of goals. But our defending was not at the level that we can play normally. I think today it (defence) was the key to our win. Now we have to keep going.”
To see the full match schedule,click here
FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 – 7th December
Result: Match 57
Belgium 3-2 France
Player of the Match: Hugo Labouchere (BEL)
Umpires: Daniel Veerman (NED) and Annelize Rostron (RSA)
Result: Match 58
New Zealand3-6 Netherlands
Player of the Match: Casper van der Veen (NED)
Umpires: Timothy Sheahan (AUS) and Benjamin Peters (USA)
Result: Match 59
Spain 2-1 Argentina
Player of the Match: Albert Serrahima (ESP)
Umpires: Rawi Anbananthan (MAS) and Bevan Nichol (NZL)
Result: Match 60
India 1-5 Germany
Player of the Match: Lukas Kossel (GER)
Umpires: Ilanggo Kanabathu (MAS) and Harry Collinson (ENG)