Germany, Argentina enter quarterfinals on Day 4 of Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup

01 Dec, 2025

The fourth day of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025saw Germany and Argentina confirming their place in the quarter-finals after topping their respective pools.

While the Germans extended their all-win record to three matches in Pool A, the Argentines had to pull out all stops against China to push New Zealand down to second spot on goal difference in Pool C. Here’s a brief report on how the four games hosted by Madurai and Chennai panned out on Monday.

Germany vs Ireland (Full-Time Score: 5-1)

Defending champions Germany became the first team to storm into the quarter-finals of the tournament, registering their third consecutive win with a 5-1 margin over Ireland who finished their campaign with just three points from a solitary win.

Jonas von Gersum starred for the Germans with two goals that he scored in the 4^thand 50^thminutes of the match in Madurai. Paul Glander (34th) and Christian Franz (53^rd) added to Germany’s tally off penalty corners while Lukas Kossel converted a penalty stroke in the 52^ndminute.

The title-holders, however, failed to keep a third straight clean sheet as Samuel Dale’s consolation strike got Ireland on the board. Otherwise, German goalkeeper Jasper Ditzer had an outstanding game.

“We had three good matches but I think it was the toughest against Ireland because the conditions were really hot,” said Glander, who captained Germany on Monday. “The objective was to have no goal against us heading into the quarters. We didn’t achieve that but we’re really excited to travel to Chennai now and play in front of a great crowd. Looking forward to that.”

South Africa vs Canada (Full-Time Score: 9-1)

South Africa outclassed Canada 9-1 in the concluding Pool A fixture on Monday to finish second among the four teams and will now have to wait for the pool stage to finish to know their fate as only two best second-placed teams among all six pools qualify for the last-eight stage.

Germany topped the pool to bag direct qualification to the quarters, while Ireland and Canada bowed out of contention.

South Africa had to thank Jaydon Brooker for the healthy margin of victory as he scored four goals – two from penalty corners, one field goal and one off a penalty stroke. Brett Horn, Sian Maart, Daniel Neuhoff, Carlon Mentoor and Ross Montgomery were the other goal-scorers for the South African team.

Robin Thind’s 14^th-minute strike was the lone goal scored by Canada, who lost all three pool stage matches.

“We wanted to give our all and score as many goals as possible. I think we achieved that. There were still chances that I think we should have put past the opposition goalkeeper, but I am really impressed with the boys’ performance,” said Player-of-the-Match Brooker.

Japan vs New Zealand (Full-Time Score: 2-3)

New Zealand’s terrific second-half rally gave them the best chance to qualify for the quarterfinals from Pool C as the narrow 3-2 victory over Japan took their tally of points to seven from two wins and a draw. That ended Japan’s hopes of reaching the quarters, while China had already exited the race.

Chennai’s inclement weather tested both the teams with multiple stoppages, but Japan will rue having let a 2-1 lead at half-time slip out of their grasp. The first quarter saw three goals, with the Black Sticks opening scoring in the 5^thminute through Scott Illerbrun. But Japan overturned that deficit by first equalising in the sixth minute off Kyoya Toya’s strike and then taking the lead with a penalty-corner conversion from Matsuki Muri just before the half-time hooter.

The Black Sticks found an extra gear in the third quarter on the rain-soaked turf to first bring the game level at 2-2 when Owen Brown breached the Japanese post in the 38^thminute and then went on to get a 3-2 lead three minutes later, thanks to a stunning strike by in-form striker Jonty Elmes.

Credit to the Black Sticks’ defence, it held firm for the remaining 19 minutes to hang onto their one-goal advantage and take home all three points.

“It feels awesome…I think we are showing that with belief and hard work, we can make something special happen,” said New Zealand’s Jonty Elmes. “It was a very difficult game with (weather-forced) stoppages and stuff. We have to look back on what we can improve upon, but I am very happy that we got over the line today.”

Argentina vs China (Full Time Score: 3-1)

The last match of the day saw a delayed start owing to the weather, but Argentina stayed focused and rode on Bruno Correa’s hat-trick to beat China 3-1. It pushed New Zealand to second place in Pool C on goal difference and secured direct qualification to the quarter-finals for the two-time former champions.

The Argentines had a goal difference of +5 as against New Zealand’s +3, while both the teams ended with seven points each from three matches. The Black Sticks will now wait for the pool stage to end to know if they feature among the two best second-placed teams that go through to the quarters.

Correa’s twin strikes in the 15^thand 16^thminutes put Argentina ahead 2-0 at half-time. China’s Di Yanwei reduced the deficit seven minutes into the third quarter, but Correa’s third goal in the 51^stminute earned the South Americans the cushion they needed to see off the last nine minutes and secure victory.

“It was important to qualify for the quarter-finals and the team is very happy,” said Matias Andreotti after the match. “I think all the teams are hard (to beat) as we saw in some of the other matches.”

To see the current pool standings after Day 3,click here

To see the full match schedule,click here

FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 – 1st December

Result: Match 25

Germany 5-1 Ireland

Player of the Match: Jasper Ditzer (GER)

Umpires: Annelize Rostron (RSA) and Hideki Kinoshita (JPN)

Result: Match 26

South Africa 9-1 Canada

Player of the Match: Jaydon Brooker (RSA)

Umpires: Rawi Anbananthan (MAL) and Salim Lucky (BAN)

Result: Match 27