After his penalty stroke in the 59th minute gave the Indian men's hockey team a 4-3 victory over Belgium, the hosts, in Antwerp late on Sunday, Harmanpreet Singh was finally able to smile, breaking a seven-game losing streak.

With a strong likelihood of making it to the 2026 World Cup, India had placed third in the FIH Pro League at the end of May when it traveled to Europe. The World Cup/Olympics are reserved for winners. If the Harmanpreet-led team merely placed fourth or higher, they would have had a good possibility of going straight to Wavre and Amstelveen, given that Belgium and the Netherlands had qualified as hosts and Australia had won the previous edition.

However, India's worst Pro League campaign in history occurred due to a combination of last-minute jitters and bad luck, with the team finishing eighth in the top nine-team league and barely avoiding the disgrace of being relegated to the Nations Cup. The Paris Olympics bronze medalists had previously won five and lost three of their eight home games before losing seven and winning one of their eight away games.

The penalty corner (PC) battery or Indian forwards were not able to score or make the most of their opportunities. The strikers Abhishek (6), Mandeep Singh (4), Sukhjeet Singh (5), and Dilpreet (3) were frequently among the goals. As usual, skipper Harmanpreet posed a significant threat, scoring six goals overall.

India led the opposition in four of the seven defeats. They were two games ahead of Australia.

Despite the presence of veteran players like Harmanpreet, Amit Rohidas, and Sumit, the team's defense was the weakest link, particularly in the last few minutes.

With chief coach Craig Fulton's "defend to win" strategy, India, which had an Achilles heel in the past, had sought to put an end to the habit of giving up late goals during the previous Olympic cycle.

However, the backline failed once more, which is ironic. Of the seven away matches India lost, the Fulton-coached team lost in the final quarter in six of them, four of which were in the last five minutes.

India was one of the least fortunate teams. From Antwerp, Belgium, head coach Shane McLeod stated that "they played pretty well except for the last-minute goals, where matches are very close." "But let's not forget that India have a gift; they play really well in tournaments of consequence like Olympics, Asia Cup, Asian Games. I also anticipate their success at the World Cup.

"Everyone wants results, but with the team's growth, both cannot always occur simultaneously. The nature of the opposition and their level of development are also important factors. Games become more accessible as they advance. They will simply need to concentrate harder throughout the remaining few minutes. McLeod, who guided Belgium to the 2018 World Cup and 2021 Olympic crowns, said, "I am confident that they will learn from this and defend well in the future."

Since this opportunity was missed, the stakes will be high at the Asia Cup in Rajgir, Bihar, from August to September, where the champion will earn a spot in the World Cup. The Harmanpreet-led team, which was given a hard battle by Malaysia and China in the finals of the previous two ACTs, will face a challenge despite the fact that India is the undisputed ruler of Asia, holding the Asian Games and the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT).

"It's not that we have played poorly, but the outcome has not been what we expected. From Antwerp, India vice-captain Hardik Singh stated, "It hurts more when you play well but fail to translate that into the desired outcome."

"We will think about this." We'll concentrate on ending strong, improving our defense, and generating scoring opportunities.

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