It was the penultimate day of the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup 2026, where we not only saw the semifinals but also experienced the final positions below the top four. Here, we are going through the final classification match results in the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup 2026.
Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup 2026: Classification Match Results
15th Place match
Wales 2(2)–2(1) Malaysia
15th Place Team: Wales
In their second World Cup, Wales recorded their worst World Cup finishing status, 15th place. On their World Cup debut in the 2022 edition, they finished in 11th place.
16th Place Team: Malaysia
The 1975 World Cup Semifinalists Malaysia recorded their worst-ever performance in World Cup history. Their previous worst World Cup finish was 15th place in the 2018 edition.
13th Place match
Japan 1–3 France
13th Place Team: France
France equalled their worst World Cup finish, 13th place, which they previously recorded in the 2022 edition.
14th Place Team: Japan
Japan recorded their second-worst World Cup finish, 14th place. In the 2022 edition, they finished in 15th place.
11th Place match
Pakistan 4(4)--4(3) South Africa
11th Place Team: Pakistan
Record-holding four-time champions Pakistan achieved their best World Cup finish record since the 2010 edition. With the 11th place finish being their joint second-worst World Cup finish, same as the 1986 edition, they finished in 12th place in the 2010 and 2018 editions.
12th Place Team: South Africa
South Africa, who have never finished a World Cup edition above 10th place, secured the 12th place, joint third best performance, and joint third worst performance. While their best status was a 10th-place finish (1994 and 2006), their worst was a 16th-place finish (2018).
9th Place match
New Zealand 6–3 Ireland
9th Place Team: New Zealand
With their ninth-place finish, New Zealand recorded their joint second-worst performance in their World Cup history, while the worst one was a 10th-place finish in the 1998 edition.
10th Place Team: Ireland
With their 10th-place finish, Ireland achieved their best-ever World Cup finish. They previously appeared in three World Cup competitions, where they finished in 12th, 12th, and 14th places in 1978, 1990, and 2014.
7th Place match
India 3(3)–3(4) Belgium
7th Place Team: Belgium
Co-hosts Belgium, the 2018 champions and 2022 runners-up, finished in seventh place. Since 2014, it has been their worst World Cup finish, while before 2014, they never managed to finish above eighth place.
8th Place Team: India
The World Cup 1975 champions and 1973 runners-up, India, finished eighth, their joint second-best World Cup finish since 1998 (level with 2010), with the best record of sixth-placed finish as the hosts in the 2018 edition.
5th Place match
England 0–2 Australia
5th Place Team: Australia
Three-time champions (1986, 2010, and 2014) and five-time finalists (1986, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014), Australia, recorded their joint second-worst World Cup finish, fifth place (same as the 1975 edition). In the inaugural edition, Australia finished in eighth place, which is still their worst World Cup finish.
6th Place Team: England
With their sixth-place finish, England recorded their joint third-worst World Cup finish (1973, 1975, 1994, 1998, and 2026). While they finished in seventh place in 1978 and 2002, they finished in eighth place in the 1982 edition.
