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Germany scripted an amazing tale of comeback wins to triumph in the FIH Hockey World Cup 2023 final against defending champions Belgium on Sunday (January 29). For the second successive time, the Hockey World Cup final went into the sudden-death round of the shootout.
Germany triumphed when Jean-Paul Danneberg saved Tanguy Cosyns’ attempt on Belgium’s second sally of the sudden-death round.
This was the third successive match for the German side in this World Cup where they came back from a two-goal deficit to emerge victorious. They were on the verge of getting knocked out by England in the quarterfinals, trailing by two goals with just over two minutes remaining.
However, Germany forced that match into a shootout and emerged victorious. In the semifinal against Australia, they were 2-0 down before taking the lead. They scored the winning goal with six seconds remaining to make it to the finals.
Once again, in the final, the German team conceded a 2-0 lead, but then dominated proceedings to take a 3-2 lead. A late goal from the defending champions took the game to a shootout.
Germany had the chance to win the game on their fifth attempt of the shootout but veteran Vincent Vanasch defended successfully against Mats Grambusch to force a sudden-death round.
That only delayed Germany’s win as both Niklas Wellen and Thies Prinz scored from their sallies. Florent van Aubel scored for Belgium on their first attempt of the sudden-death round but Cosyns missed to give Germans their third world title.
Both the 2018 Hockey World Cup and the 2020 Olympics final had been decided by a shootout. Belgium had triumphed on both occasions, against Netherlands in 2018 and Australia in 2021. This time though, they failed to make it three in a row.
Belgium race to 2-0 lead
Germany were off the blocks quicker in the match as they won a couple of penalty corner in the opening minutes. However, Belgium then took control and got the lead in the 10th minute. Van Aubel was standing near the top of the circle when a ball that had lobbed up of a German stick landed by him. The Belgian player smashed the bouncing ball into the goal.
Less than a minute later, Belgium doubled their lead. Antoine Kina rushed down the midfield before running into a German defender. However, the ball went back to one of his teammates and he pushed it back to Kina who had moved into the circle. Kina gave a cross from the left-hand side of the circle towards the front of the goal where it was deflected in by Cosyns.
Germany then changed the course of the match in the second quarter. They started to push forward more successfully to create opportunities. One of them in the 19th minute led to a penalty stroke. But Tom Grambusch’s shot to the top left corner was saved by Vanasch.
Germany overcome two-goal deficit, again!
Not being deterred by the penalty stroke miss, the German side continued to play well and managed to get a goal back in the penultimate minute of the first half. On a PC, the ball was injected to the near castle, where Lukas Windfeder pushed it across to the player at the other castle. He smashed it across to Niklas Wellen at the left-hand post.
Wellen received the ball but it lobbed up off his stick. Wellen controlled the aerial ball masterfully and smashed it into the goal.
The second half was dominated by Germany. It was initially a midfield wrangle between the two teams before Germany started to dominate possession and make repeated incursions into the Belgian circle.
What was most impressive about Germany’s play was how they completely defanged Belgium’s attacking game. The defending champions could hardly get the ball past the 23-meter line in their opposition's half.
PC expert Gonzalo Peillat made his impact felt when he provided the equalizer for his team in the 41st minute, through his powerful drag-flick.
The lead for the Germans materialized in the 48th minute. Prinze gave a good pass from just above the top of the circle to Mats Grambusch inside. He took a shot at goal from the left-hand side, from a very acute angle and managed to beat the goalie.
The German domination continued until the last four minutes of the game. That’s when Belgium decided to hold on to possession and slowly build their attacks from the back. They started to find ways into the circle and extracted three penalty corners.
Tom Boon stepped up for his team and scored from the far castle in the 59th minute to keep his team alive in the contest. For the second successive time, the World Cup final went into a shootout.
Belgium stuck with Vanasch in the goal while their opponents brought on Danneberg. This time, Belgium couldn’t come out on top, losing their world title to a German team that was around 2:20 minutes away from getting knocked out by England in the quarterfinals.
Germany is now one of only three teams to have won the Hockey World Cup three times. They won consecutive titles in 2002 and 2006 editions. After having failed to make the podium in the Tokyo Olympics, the Germans are back on top of the hockey world.
