India vs Pakistan Hockey Asian Games Semifinal Live Updates: India beat Pakistan 5-3 the last time the two sides met in the Hockey World Cup earlier this year. (Hockey India/X)India vs Pakistan Hockey Asian Games Semifinal: India captain Harmanpreet Singh scored twice in the first quarter and Sukhjeet scored a third for the side in the second thanks to a sensational assist from Shilanand Lakra. However, India lacked discipline in defence, which led to Pakistan winning as many as six penalty corners despite them rarely being able to put any significant pressure. India conceded from the last of those in the first half, with Pakistan captain Abu Mahmood pulling one back for them. It only got worse for the Indians after that as they went to sleep in defence and Pakistan, extraordinarily, ended up wiping out India’s lead altogether to make it 3-3 early in the final quarter. Abhishek saved India the blushes though, scoring in the last minute and India won 4-3.
India are facing Pakistan in the men’s hockey semifinal of the 2026 Asian Games at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium. The two teams will probably always remain arch-rivals due to the glorious matches that they have played against each other in the past, and the relations between the two countries they represent, but in reality, this is hardly a contest any more. Indian hockey have moved far ahead of its crisis-stricken Pakistan counterpart in the last decade or so and the results are there for all to see on the pitch.
Before 2000, India and Pakistan played 92 matches. Pakistan won exactly half of them, 46, India won only 30, while 16 ended in draws, according to The Hockey Museum. Since January 1, 2000, they have played 93 times. India have won 43, including a 7-1 hammering most recently in June. Pakistan have won 38. Twelve have been draws. The statistics are more damning for Pakistan when you look at recent history. Their current winless streak against their neighbours stands at 20 matches and counting, a run dating back to April 2016. India’s longest winless run against Pakistan lasted eight matches between 1988 and 1989.
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The men's gold medal match will be at 3.30pm IST and India will be facing either Malaysia and Republic of Korea. They play each other in the second semifinal which will get underway in about 15 minutes.
But before that, India face China in what could be a humdinger of a women's gold medal tomorrow.
The Indian captain is talking on Sony LIV. "We started very well but I think the second half, we made a lot of defensive mistakes. They made opportunities and scored because of that. But we also know what our structure is and in the last minute, we managed to score. It is a good lesson for us for the final," he said.
"We still had opportunities in the second half, especially after they got a yellow card. But then we also made mistakes, we also got a green card. But we made a lot of silly mistakes. We need to make sure we stay consistent throughout the match in the final."
Pritish Raj: It had to be Abhishek. It is a deflection but one needs to strike it on the goal to get a deflection also.
After a long time, India v Pakistan has served up a spicy context and what a better than a last minute winner to win it.
To be honest, India just got out of jail there. They had no business conceding three goals and making it such a nerve wrecking contest. Interesting fact, this is the first time that both Indian teams are in the Asian Games final after 1998 Bangkok Asiad.
Women will play China and the opponent for the men's team will be decided later.
Nitin Sharma: India hockey players including skipper Harmanpreet Singh shake hands with Pakistan players after the win. The Pakistan coach also shook hands with Indian players in the dug-out.
Oh an almighty scare for the Indians there and they survive it thanks to that last minute goal from Abhishek. They seem to appreciate the Pakistan players' efforts as well, warm handshakes between the two sides. Today is the kind of day in which parents might be regaling tales of witness glorious India-Pakistan hockey matches in the past. Full credit to Pakistan, they were down and out for much of the first half but they somehow found the fuel to keep going. India, well, it's a great win, but it is also one in which they need to ask themselves a number of questions. What in the world are they going to do about that leaky defence of theirs and why did they switch off the way did today.
OH ABHISHEK MAY HAVE SCORED THE WINNER HERE! It seems to have taken a deflection off a Pakistani stick. There's just about 40 odd seconds left in this match now. That has to be that. Surely...
Into the last minute now. India had got a PC but Pakistan managed to get that overturned. A Free hit instead for India. Seconds away from a potential penalty shootout here.
Sufiyan with the draflick, stopped by Rohidas. Pakistan keep the ball and create another chance but India win the free hit. India come forward now, try to keep the ball moving on the right but Pakistan are resolute.
What we are watching here is a monument. Tense India-Pakistan hockey matches were something that previous generations may have experienced regularly and we are seeing one today arguably for the first time in a decade.
Wow the tables have turned completely. It is the Indians who are making all kinds of silly errors. Pakistan seem very happy with wasting time as much as possible. But then they do seem to have forced a PC for themselves. Harmanpreet appeals, a long referral follows and the decision goes Pakistan's way. Harmanpreet not happy at all. India are dangerously close to losing their heads completely here. Or have they already?
PAKISTAN HAVE WIPED OUT A 3-0 DEFICIT! FROM 3-0 DOWN TO 3-3 UP! India shell shocked! Utterly pedestrian defending from India. Pakistan enter the circle from the right, make the pass inside with the Indians switched off completely. Waheed Rana scores with goalkeeper Mohith Shashikumar nowhere in the frame.
Mohith is taken off immediately, he slouches to the Indian dugout and Suraj Karkera will be in goal for what is going to be a very tense final quarter.
Wow, it just gets worse for India. First Dilpreet gets a silly green card. And now India fall asleep at the back and Shahid punishes them for it. Pakistan have gone from 3-0 down to now trailing 3-2.
That was almost the last play of the third quarter. It ends India 3-2 Pakistan.
Game on now for the final quarter.
43rd min: Well, the two sets of players are coming together now. Dilpreet seems to have got into an argument off the ball. The two captains finally come and pull their teammates away. The referee gives Dilpreet a green card. India will hence finish their quarter with one man down. Pakistan were playing with one man down thus far, with Ahmad Butt getting a yellow card early on. He is back on the field.
A quiet start to the second quarter, India had more possession in the opening couple of minutes but Pakistan passing the ball around... and well they literally hit it out of play and lose possession.
All right, pushback from India this time. Will India show more discipline at the back? Or will Pakistan build on that late goal they conceded? Let's wait and watch...
The two hockey greats in the Sony LIV commentary box were unanimous in their assesment. India have been great in possession and with their pressing but they need to be more airtight with their discipline in defence.
"Keep the discipline in defence. You can't give away those kinds of PCs late in the half," said Sreejesh.
The hooter goes off and an entertaining finish to a first half that had till then been all about India's dominance and Pakistan's waywardness. At the same time, India would also be wary of the lack of discipline at the back. They have conceded as many as six PCs, which is even more dire considering how rare Pakistan's forays into the D were compared to India's. And India ended up conceding from one of those at the end. Pakistan may have been wayward today with their PCs but captain Mahmood and Sufiyan Khan are generally good dragflickers. India can't afford to give them these many chances.
This time the Pakistan captain gets his dragflick right. Rajinder hitting with the backstick gives Pakistan a PC. Abu Baker on the flick again, it hits Mohith before rolling into goal.
Pakistan win a PC but the captain Abu Bakar Mahmood with a real stinker of a drag flick there. This has been a better quarter for PC when you look at it from the point of view of their circle entries and possession but really, there has been no threat to the Indian goal at all. And dragflicks like those are not going to help Pakistan pose any either.
Well that came out of nowhere almost. The Pakistani goalkeeper and his defenders left standing there. Shilanand Lakra drives right to the byline, he seemed to have been forced out of play but he suddenly sends in a tomahawk of pass to the middle. Sukhjeet reacts, the Pakistanis didn't. Sukhjeet could do so because he had the basics right, keeping the stick close to the ground. Pakistan weren't doing that and before they knew it, the ball had hit the back of goal and come out. That, right there, sums up the difference between the two sides.
Pakistan get another PC and wow, they completely mess that one up. The trap on injection has gone wrong and the chance is gone as well.
Meanwhile, PR Sreejesh is in the commentary box for Sony LIV and he says that India should be looking to rotate the ball around more, make Pakistan run as he feels the latter are not the fittest team in the tournament.
21 mins: The Pakistan defenders hardly having any chance to string two calm passes together early on with the Indians closing in on them every time a player has the ball.
Pushback from Pakistan again. Can they make more a match of this in the second quarter? In that World Cup match earlier this year, Pakistan bit back in the second quarter and matched India toe-to-toe for much of it after being similarly squeezed out in the first quarter...
Pakistan get two more PCs and the string ends when Sufyan Khan's dragflick goes wide of the target. Pakistan go on the attack again after that but they really do look toothless compared to the Indians. The hooter goes off, a mistmatch of a first quarter comes to a close.
14th min: Pakistan go on the attack after conceding that second goal. They appeal for a PC which the ref doesn't give. Pakistan go for a referral and it goes in their favour. Sufiyan with the dragflick, Rohidas the first rusher who stops it but Pakistan get another PC from that...
PC, Harmanpreet dragflick, goal. Like clockwork. Manpreet provoked the PC with a run from the left. Abhishek with the injection, a bit of a shift in the battery as the ball came and Harmanpreet suddenly is in all kinds of space while flicking, the rushers have all been caught out. Harmanpreet raps the backboard of goal and India are two ahead. India utterly dominant here, Pakistan have hardly been seen since they got that early shot on target.
Another PC for India, not the best of injections and Harmanpreet goes for the dragflick. It is blocked by the keeper but India try to squeeze in the rebound. Pakistan smother the danger away. It is all one-way traffic at the moment.
7th min: Dilpreet semed to have scored at the near post on the right but Pakistan go for a referral. Dilpreet also seemed to be asking the umpire to look at something if he is sending the decision upstairs. Pakistan's referral was for a back stick, players being forbidden from using that part of the stick for pretty much anything in the D. And backstick it is. No goal.
Fifth times the charm for India. And well, Pakistan have no one but themselves to blame. The PCs they have conceded are all from largely silly mistakes and if you give Harmanpreet five chances, he will score at least one of them. And that is what has happened here. Just the perfect drag flick, no goaltender in the world who can do anything about that.
As many as four back-to-back penalty corners for India. The string was stopped when Harmanpreet's drag flick was saved by Ali Raza in front of his face. However, India almost immediately maanaged to win another PC...
Pakistan had the first shot on target and Suraj Karkera keeps it out. They continue with the attacking approach, which is somewhat refreshing from Pakistan but India gain control eventually and win their first PC.
All right then, we are underway! Pushback from Pakistan. India in their saffron, Pakistan in white and green.
...or how Pakistan used to torment India in their heyday. The sport has been in the Games roster since 1958, in which Pakistan won gold and India silver with there being no playoffs. All the gold medal matches between 1962 and 1982 were betwen the two nations, and Pakistan won all but one of them, which was in 1966. Pakistan's run of gold medals was ended by South Korea in 1986, with India winning bronze that year. But Pakistan won gold again in 1990, which was another instance of there being no playoffs in the hockey competition. Since then, however, India and Pakistan have met just once in the gold medal match and that was in 2014, which India won on penalty strokes.
This is how India are lining up today.
https://platform.x.com/widgets.js𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗣 𝗜𝗦 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘! 🇮🇳🔥
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 1, 2026
Here's team India's starting Xl for the Asian Games 2026 semi-final against Pakistan, with a place in the gold-medal match awaiting the winners! 🏑⚡💪🇮🇳
⏰ 1 PM IST
Watch the action LIVE on the Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV.… pic.twitter.com/J2eVCQYo85
India face Pakistan in a match that will always remain highly anticipated regardless how big the gulf in quality is between the two sides. This game will decide who goes through to the gold medal match and who will fight for bronze. Stay tuned for more updates!
Pakistan were once hockey’s trendsetters. They won four World Cups, three Olympic gold medals and produced artists who changed how the game was played. They weren’t merely India’s greatest rivals; for long periods, the Green Shirts were India’s tormentors. But the balance of power has shifted so dramatically that the fixture now feels less like the renewal of a rivalry and more like a reminder of what has been lost.
The numbers tell the story. READ MORE
