Former captain Manpreet Singh expressed strong confidence in India’s Hockey World Cup prospects, citing the team’s recent 3-1 victory over world champions Germany as proof that the squad can challenge for a historic tournament medal.
ormer India captain and the country’s most-capped hockey player Manpreet Singh has expressed confidence in the national team’s prospects at the upcoming Hockey World Cup, saying the squad has every reason to believe it can mount a strong challenge for a medal.
According to Manpreet, India’s recent performances against top international sides have boosted the team’s confidence ahead of a crucial period that also includes the FIH Pro League and the Asian Games.
“We are very excited about the World Cup and the Asian Games because the team’s performance has been very good. I personally have a lot of hope that we will perform very well in the World Cup,” Manpreet replied to IANS query in a media interaction.
The veteran midfielder believes the current Indian team has shown encouraging signs in recent outings and is steadily building momentum ahead of the marquee event.
“The team’s performance was very good. Our last match against Germany was also very good, and the team performed very well. We lost the first match against the Netherlands, but overall the team’s performance was good,” he said.
The Indian men’s hockey team produced a solid performance to defeat world champions Germany 3-1 in their second match of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2025-26 Rotterdam leg on Wednesday.
Goals from Mandeep Singh (7′), Shilanand Lakra (13′) and Nilakanta Sharma (35′) led India’s impressive win, which also highlighted the team’s strong defensive structure.
Midfielder Hardik Singh was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his excellent display in shepherding play from the midfield.
For Manpreet, the World Cup represents an opportunity for India to end a lengthy wait for success at one of hockey’s biggest tournaments.