PR Sreejesh has strongly questioned the way Indian hockey is being handled after both teams failed to reach the FIH World Cup semi-finals. India’s men lost 3-5 to Argentina in the second round, ending their campaign in disappointing fashion. The women’s team also exited after drawing with Australia. Sreejesh’s post came soon after the results and focused on preparation, accountability and the attitude towards major tournaments. He also pointed towards the women’s team’s preparation, after chief coach Sjoerd Marijne was reportedly on leave shortly before the World Cup. “Don’t worry... the World Cup doesn’t matter,” Sreejesh wrote sarcastically. He then questioned whether winning at the Asian Games could simply move attention away from the World Cup failure. “The Asian Games are coming. Win a medal there, and then we can start dreaming about LA 2028. Apparently, that’s enough to cover everything that went wrong at the World Cup,” he wrote.

The former India goalkeeper also questioned the way losses are explained. He pointed to phrases such as learning experience and good performance being used after different results. “But here’s the uncomfortable question: Are we building a team to PLAY good hockey, or a team capable of WINNING against the best in the world?” he asked. He also made his expectations clear ahead of the next major tournament. “Stop hiding behind ‘learning’, ‘good hockey’ and future tournaments,” Sreejesh wrote. “The World Cup is not a rehearsal. It is the World Cup.” He then demanded answers from those running the sport. “So who is going to ask the difficult questions? Who is going to demand accountability?” he wrote, before ending with a blunt question, “Does anyone actually care?”

India suffer 3-5 defeat to Argentina, miss Hockey World Cup semi-finals in FIH 2026 

India’s men’s hockey team crashed out of the 2026 World Cup semi-final race after a 3-5 defeat to Argentina. The result came in a must-win final Pool E match at the Wagener Hockey Stadium. India needed a big victory to keep their semi-final hopes alive. Instead, Argentina started strongly and put India under pressure almost immediately. Joaquin Toscani opened the scoring just 41 seconds into the match. Nicolas Della Torre then doubled Argentina’s lead from a penalty corner. Sukhjeet Singh pulled one back for India in the 10th minute. India had chances but struggled with passing and ball control. Argentina led 2-1 at half-time.

The second half proved costly for India. Tomas Domene scored early in the third quarter after an Indian turnover. He later converted a penalty stroke to make it 4-1. Lucas Toscani added another goal in the fourth quarter, leaving India with a huge mountain to climb. India finally found some rhythm late in the match. Sukhjeet scored his second goal before Hardik Singh converted a penalty stroke. India also earned another penalty corner in the final moments, but Argentina goalkeeper Tomas Santiago made an important save. The comeback came too late. India finished the pool stage without a point and will now play Belgium for seventh place. Coach Craig Fulton admitted that India started poorly and said the team needed to perform better in big matches.