Hockey World Cup: Pakistan to meet Belgium in do or die encounter

After managing to continue their run at 218 Hockey World Cup, Pakistan would face Belgium in a do or die encounter in their knockout stage fixture on Tuesday, December 11.

Pakistan hockey team confirmed their place in the knockout stage of the tournament despite losing their Pool D encounter against Netherlands 5-1 in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

Theirry Brinkman put the Dutch side ahead in the seventh minute but Pakistan's Mohammad Umar Bhutta scored the equalizer two minutes later.

Netherlands kept the upper hand from the start and went on to score four more goals in quick successions.

Valentin Verga made it 2-1 for Netherlands in the 27th minute, Bob de Voogd not far behind scored the third goal 10 minutes later. Jorrit Croon extended Netherlands’ lead to 4-1 in the 47th minute. Whereas,  Mink Alphons van der Weerden put the last scoring the fifth goal of the match.

Germany topped the Group D with nine points, making their way to the quarter finals, while Netherlands were in second place with six points. Pakistan managed to qualify for the crossover stage on goal difference after placing third on the tables.