Belgium’s men inched closer to the FIH Hockey Pro League title with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Spain in a steamy Wavre on Sunday. In the other match of the day in Belgium, Argentina’s women edged China in a shootout.
Over in London, the relegation battle in the women’s tournament continued with Australia edging England in a shootout to earn an important bonus point. In the corresponding men’s fixture, England claimed a solid 3-1 win over the Kookaburras.
Meanwhile in Rotterdam, India produced a superb display to beat the Netherlands 3-2, while Spain pushed the table-topping Dutch women all the way before eventually going down 1-0.
(Women’s) Netherlands 1 – 0 Spain
The Netherlands had to fight hard for their 1-0 victory over a spirited Spain as goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal celebrated her 150th cap for the home side.
The Dutch exerted all the early pressure and earned their first penalty corner after 10 minutes, but couldn’t convert, with Spain remaining composed in defence to keep the score level at 0-0 at the first break.
They were back on the front foot at the start of the second quarter, winning another penalty corner which was initially saved by the Spanish goalkeeper. She almost gloved it back into danger, but a diving defender managed to clear the ball off the line.
Estel Petchame then had a promising opportunity for Spain, firing in a powerful strike, but it flew wide of the target. The Dutch continued to carve out chances, but Maria Tello stood firm in the Spanish goal to ensure it remained goalless at half-time.
Clara Perez replaced Tello in goal in the third quarter and continued the sterling defensive work, keeping the Dutch out for another 15 minutes.
After a mammoth Spanish defensive effort, the breakthrough finally came for the Dutch in the 54th minute, Felice Albers breaching the defence and popping it in.
Spain pulled their keeper with just under four minutes to go and earned their first penalty corner with 21 seconds remaining, but a fairy tale finish was not to be, with the Dutch wrapping up a slender 1-0 win.
The Netherlands’ Marleen Jochems was named Player of the Match and said: “I think it was a tough match. We actually did better than yesterday… They didn’t get any big opportunities and we got a lot of circle penetrations. But it was tough, we worked really hard… It was a great team performance. We kept pushing and I’m glad we won. A win is a win.”
(Women’s) Argentina 3 – 3 China (SO: 4 – 3)
It was a game of two very different halves and Argentina put themselves in an excellent position to win it towards the end, but they had to settle for a 3-3 draw with China before carrying their momentum to win the shootout 4-3.
Argentina did all the attacking in the first six minutes and earned a penalty stroke when Tan Jinzhuang was struck on the post defending a penalty corner. China lost their referral wastefully in that moment and Augustina Gorzelany made no mistake from the p-spot. A couple of poorly judged tackles saw Julieta Jankunas serve two suspensions for Argentina as China recovered to completely dominate the rest of the half.
Zhang Ying’s 11th-minute drag flick levelled the scores, taking a slight deflection to beat the goalkeeper. Chen Yang then gave China the lead in the 21st minute with an excellent penalty corner variation, moving rapidly from her decoy position at first stopper to complete a reverse stick deflection into the roof of the net from mid-circle. Victoria Miranda equalised for Las Leonas with time up on the clock, scoring a scrappy goal from a recycled penalty corner to make it 2-2 at half-time.
The Argentinians looked much better at the start of the second half and they edged ahead again in the 38th minute. It was a lovely drive into the circle from Maria Granatto, celebrating her 250th cap, drawing all the defenders and popping the ball to Pisthon Lourdes for a flick over the approaching keeper. China weren’t done though, and some excellent work down the right flank from deep in their own half earned them a penalty corner in the 51st minute. The PC variation struck the post defender on the line and Ying made it 3-3 from the resulting penalty stroke. Argentina missed four late opportunities from open play and penalty corners as they dominated the closing stages, but the match went to a shootout where they clinched the bonus point.
Argentina’s Victoria Granatto was named the Player of the Match and said: “I am very proud to be (Maria Granatto’s) sister. She has an amazing career and she’s a big example for all of us. I think we really had the moments to win the game. The second half we really fought to win the game, and of course a nice prize, but at the end, I only want to win. So I’m happy because of this, but with a bad feeling from not winning the game on the field.”
(Men’s) England 3 – 1 Australia
A brace from Nick Bandurak helped England to a 3-1 win over the Kookaburras in London to lift the home side to second spot in the standings.
It was an action-packed first half, with both goalkeepers called into action, but neither side could find a breakthrough as the first 30 minutes ended goalless.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 40th minute when an Australian penalty corner broke down, allowing England to launch a swift counterattack. Stuart Rushmere provided the cross for Nick Bandurak, who was perfectly placed to tap home for a 1-0 lead.
Australia responded almost immediately. Just a minute later, Campbell Geddes made no mistake from a penalty corner, dragging home the equaliser to level the scores.
Bandurak restored England’s advantage in the 47th minute with a moment of individual brilliance, controlling the ball in front of goal before squeezing it into the turf and watching it bounce into the bottom corner.
Australia’s task became even tougher in the 51st minute when Tom Craig received a five-minute yellow card. England took full advantage of the extra player, earning a penalty corner from which James Gall produced a superb diving deflection to extend the lead to 3-1 with less than four minutes remaining.
The Kookaburras pulled their goalkeeper in search of a late comeback, but England held firm to seal the win.
England’s Nick Bandurak was named Player of Match and said: “Unbelievable effort from the boys. To turn it around in the time frame we have between games is tough, especially when you’re playing Australia. We knew they were going to be up for it. It was a really, really tough game, and so it proved.”
(Men’s) Belgium 3 – 2 Spain
Belgium were pushed all the way by Spain but managed to prevail 3-2 in front of an excited home crowd in Wavre.
Belgium enjoyed slightly more possession in the opening quarter but the Spanish still managed to create several excellent scoring chances. Vincent Vanasch ensured the scored remained 0-0 at the half-time break while Luis Calzado was largely untroubled.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 35th minute when Thomas Crols intercepted a poor aerial clearance from a Spanish defender and fed the ball to Thibeau Stockbroekx, who fired in a reserve stick strike.
Belgium added a second from a 42nd-minute penalty corner when Alex Hendrickx dragged one down the middle, through Calzado’s legs. But Spain pulled one back just seconds later when Jose Basterra converted a penalty corner at the other end.
The Spanish thought they had found the equaliser with nine minutes to go, but the goal was disallowed on review after hitting an attacker’s foot. The Red Sticks continued to pile on the pressure in the final throes of the match, and they were rewarded when a ball deflected high up off a defender’s stick and Guillermo Fortuno was on hand to volley it down into the back of the net in the 54th minute.
The home side had the final say, however, with Tom Boon scoring off another penalty corner as Belgium held on for a 3-2 win to take a step closer to securing the Pro League title.
Arno van Dessel was named Player of the Match for Belgium and said: “We made a deal with each other in September [last year] to go all in, to learn, to make mistakes and for the moment it’s working out but we’re not there yet. I think next week we have some big opponents and we’ll see how we go there.”
(Men’s) Netherlands 2 – 3 India
India showed plenty of attacking flair as they emerged 3-2 winners over the Netherlands in a wonderful game of hockey.
India lived dangerously in the opening minutes and Koen Bijen nearly celebrated his 100th cap for the Netherlands with an early goal, but his shot struck the post. The chances all fell to the Dutch in the opening quarter, but the quality of leading runs and passes from both teams made for excellent viewing. Mandeep Singh split the Dutch defence to set up a PC in the 18th minute, and Jugraj Singh bulleted his drag flick in low for the lead. The Dutch hit back in similar fashion within a minute, Pepijn van der Heijden beating the post defender with pure pace at chest height. Abhishek edged India ahead again in the 27th minute, his big tomahawk from the top of the circle rounding off some patient passing down the right flank. The Dutch thought they had struck back immediately, but it was overturned on referral for a dangerous lift during the build-up.
The Dutch enjoyed full control of the goalless third quarter, but India looked comfortable in defending the onslaught. Some wizardry on attack gave India a golden opportunity to win the game, but Joppe Wolbert tracked behind the goalkeeper on defence and saved the shot on the line. He promptly undid that good work with a terrible sliding tackle, earning himself a yellow card and conceding a penalty corner in the process. India looked to have botched the routine at the top of the circle, but Rajinder Singh walked the ball in and unleashed a tremendous drag flick to make it 3-1 with just four minutes remaining. Bijen did pull one back for the Netherlands with the faintest of penalty corner deflections in the 59th minute, but it was too little too late as India finished the game on the attack.
Hardik Singh received the Player of the Match award for India and said: “I think the team played really, really well. We finished well, from the start we were doing really good, and then we knew that we needed to finish stronger. That’s what we haven’t done in our last match against Germany, so we did our homework and everything.”
(Women’s) England 2 – 2 Australia (SO: 3 – 4)
Australia dug deep to fight back from being two goals down inside three minutes, drawing 2-2 with England before going on to win the shootout 4-3 as Elena Rayer celebrated her 100th England cap.
Ana Toman gave England the perfect start with two blistering strikes from early penalty corners. She fired her team ahead in the second minute when her shot deflected high into the net off the first wave runner. She then doubled that lead with a perfect looping strike at the post-man’s left foot a minute later. Stephanie Kershaw pulled one back for Australia with a sensational tomahawk from the baseline in the 26th minute, blasting the ball straight over Sabbie Heesh’s helmet into the roof of the net. England held a narrow 2-1 lead at half-time.
The Hockeyroos drew level in the 32nd minute, Kershaw dispossessing Toman outside the 23-yard area and driving all the way to the baseline. She flipped the ball towards her support arriving at the back post, but it deflected into goal off an unfortunate defender. England didn’t panic and they bossed the rest of the quarter, Jocelyn Bartram doing sterling work in the Australian goal to keep her team in it.
England carried their momentum through to the fourth quarter and looked dangerous until Kaitlin Nobbs finished serving her green card suspension for Australia in the 52nd minute. The Hockeyroos turned the pressure around when Sophie Hamilton received a green card and it was Heesh’s turn to defend her line. Darcy Bourne had a final opportunity to bag the full complement of points for England with 50 seconds remaining, but Bartram somehow got her stick out to deflect it just wide of the post and send the match to a shootout. The shootout went to sudden death, where Australia came out on top after nine attempts per team.
Jocelyn Batram was named the player of the match for Australia and said: “So thrilled that the girls had fight. You know, going down two goals early was a tough thing for us, and for them to stay in the game and come back, get the draw, and execute in the shootout was amazing.”
Current Hero Top Scorers:
Women – Yibbi Jansen (NED) (11 goals)
Men – Tomas Domene (ARG) (16 goals)
To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Pro League, click here.
FIH Hockey Pro League – 21 June 2026
Belfius Hockey Area, Wavre (BEL)
Women
Result: Match 52 (W)
Argentina 3 – 3 China (SO: 4 – 3)
Player of the match: Victoria Granatto (ARG)
Umpires: Ben Grant (NZL), Maggie Giddens (USA), Daniel Veerman (NED-video)
Men
Result: Match 54 (M)
Belgium 3 – 2 Spain
Player of the match: Arno van Dessel (BEL)
Umpires: James Unkles (AUS), Sean Edwards (ENG), Ben Grant (NZL-video)
HC Rotterdam, Rotterdam (NED)
Women
Result: Match 54 (W)
Netherlands 1 – 0 Spain
Player of the match: Marleen Jochems (NED)
Umpires: Aleisha Neumann (AUS), Dan Barstow (ENG), Tamara Leonard (AUS-video)
Men
Result: Match 53 (M)
Netherlands 2 – 3 India
Player of the match: Hardik Singh (IND)
Umpires: Juan Pedro Rodriguez (ARG), Jayden Pearson (AUS), Rawi Anbananthan (MAS-video)
Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, London (UK)
Men
Result: Match 52 (M)
England 3 – 1 Australia
Player of the match: Nick Bandurak (ENG)
Umpires: Ivona Makar (CRO), Ayden Shrives (RSA), Lisette Baljon (NED-video)
Women
Result: Match 53 (W)
England 2 – 2 Australia (SO: 3 – 4)
Player of the match: Jocelyn Bartram (AUS)
Umpires: Lorijn de Kraker (NED), Paul van den Assum (NED), Alison Keogh (IRL-video)