England whip Pakistan to annex FIH World Cup Qualifiers gold

By Alam Zeb Safi
LAHORE: Pakistan went 4-1 down to England in the final of the FIH World Cup Qualifiers at the Ismailia, Egypt, on Saturday night.
Both teams had already qualified for the 2026 World Cup the other day after they reached the finals.
Pakistan did their best but England looked superior and secured a 4-1 win to claim gold medal.
England earned their first penalty corner just 49 seconds after the start but it was not until the second quarter that they found the breakthrough. The lead came in the 18th minute when Henry Croft’s shot across goal took a fortunate deflection off a Pakistani defender. Pakistan played with great intensity for the remaining of the period and while they may have frustrated the English attack they were unable to turn that pressure into a goal of their own, leaving England 1–0 ahead at the half-time break.
Pakistan continued to apply pressure at the start of the third quarter but it was England who struck again. Sam Hooper doubled their lead in the 35th minute with a powerful drag flick from a penalty corner. The English then slowed the tempo and began to regain control and Hooper added a third goal five minutes later from another penalty corner. Pakistan were then finally rewarded for their persistence in the 42nd minute when Waleed Rana tapped in a cross from Ghazanfar Ali. But Ben Fox made absolutely sure of the England victory with another goal in the 52nd minute to wrap up a 4-1 win.
“We came with the idea of winning the tournament, not just qualifying. Obviously, qualifying was the most important thing, but we really wanted to come out here and win every game and do that by playing our style and I think we’ve done that all week. So we’re really happy,” England Sam Hooper, who was declared as player of the match, said.
Meanwhile in the other crucial game three goals in five minutes in the final quarter saw Japan come from behind to beat Malaysia 5-4 to seal their World Cup qualification.
The opening quarter was evenly contested until Japan broke the deadlock with just 30 seconds remaining before the first break. Ryoma Ooka finished off a swift counterattack, slapping the ball in from the edge of the circle to give his side a 1–0 lead. Once again, it was only in the closing moments of the next quarter that the scoreline changed. A skilfull run along the baseline by Abu Kamal Azrai ended with a pass into a crowded goalmouth where Fitri Saari was perfectly placed to tap in the equaliser for Malaysia. The goal ensured the teams went into half-time locked at 1–1.
A defensive error by Japan, who cleared the ball straight to Marhan Jalil at the top of the circle, allowed the Malaysian captain to fire it into the net and give his side a 2–1 lead. Malaysia’s third came from a penalty corner in the 36th minute when Syed Cholan’s drag flick took deflections off both the first runner and the post-man on its way in. Japan responded just two minutes later through Kazumata Matsumoto, who received the ball in the centre of the D and deftly deflected it into the goal to make it 3–2. The Japanese then drew level in the 52nd minute when Raiki Fujishima’s drag flick was gloved into the top of the net by the goalkeeper.
Koji Yamasaki then struck twice in quick succession, tapping in Japan’s fourth in the 55th minute before adding a fifth just two minutes later to put his side two goals clear. Malaysia pulled one back through a Faizal Saari drag flick from a penalty corner in the 59th minute, but it was not enough to stop Japan from clinching the bronze medal.
This was a historic event for Pakistan which made it to the World Cup after a gap of eight years.