India Men's Hockey Team Rises To World No.5 Spot After Second Consecutive Olympics Bronze

India Men's Hockey Edited by Updated: Aug 13, 2024, 9:43 pm
India Men's Hockey Team Rises To World No.5 Spot After Second Consecutive Olympics Bronze

Olympic champions Netherlands (3168) stand at the top of the rankings. Netherlands came into the games in the top spot, but dropped to third in the pool stage following a draw against Great Britain and a loss to Germany, but four consecutive wins to finish with the title, sees them climb back into the first place.

Germany (3035) once again showed their big tournament prowess, as they came into the event ranked fifth in the world, but registered big wins over the likes of Netherlands, Great Britain, Argentina, and India to climb into second place in the world rankings, on the way to the silver medal.

England (2973), Belgium (2959) and India (2849) complete the top-5 places. Belgium in particular will be disappointed with their quarter final exit, coming in as defending champions. The Red Lions had a near-perfect pool stage with 4 wins and a draw that had catapulted them to the top of the world rankings, but a loss to Spain in the quarterfinal saw them drop down to fourth. Germany’s ascent also sees England drop down one spot from their pre-Olympics ranking of second place, to third, while India has climbed one spot up bridging the gap to the top-4, following a second consecutive bronze medal finish at the Olympics.

Australia (2714), Argentina (2643) and Spain (2470) find themselves in the sixth, seventh, and eighth positions respectively. Australia began the Olympics ranked fourth in the world, and climbed into the top-3 after the first win over Argentina, but a disappointing campaign where they endured losses to Belgium, India and got knocked out by Netherlands in the quarterfinals, sees them drop down to sixth, less than 100 points clear of Argentina in seventh. Spain fell just short of the bronze medal and while their ranking remains unchanged, the gap to seventh place is less than half of what it was before Paris 2024.

Ireland (2078), France (2016), South Africa (1982) and New Zealand (1958) take up the ninth to twelfth spots in the world rankings with all four teams competing at the Olympics, but failing to make the quarterfinals. Ireland’s victory over New Zealand in their final pool stage game, lifted them two spots into ninth place at the expense of France who ended their pool stage of the games with just one point following a draw against Spain. South Africa moved up one place thanks to their draw against Great Britain and win over France, while New Zealand’s failure to collect any points at the Olympics sees them drop two spots down from tenth.