The Indian Women's Hockey Team played out a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Scotland in their second Pool B match of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 Qualifiers on Monday. With this result, both India and Scotland sit on four points in the group, but India are top due to a superior goal difference. Goals from Navneet Kaur and Sunelita Toppo for India were matched by Scotland's Heather McEwan and Fiona Burnet.
India, starting in a 3-4-3 formation, looked solid early on but temporarily lost their defensive shape to concede a penalty corner in the 6th minute. Scotland capitalised immediately, with Heather McEwan guiding the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.
India took control quickly in the second quarter. In the 17th minute, they earned their third penalty corner. Despite another fumble at the trap, Navneet Kaur recovered brilliantly, positioning herself perfectly to smash the ball past Scottish goalkeeper Jessica Buchanan to level the score at 1-1. Scotland surged forward looking to regain the lead, winning a penalty corner in the 22nd minute, but Indian goalkeeper Bichu Devi produced a superb save against Amy Costello's drag-flick.
However, India pushed back in the 29th minute. After a frantic goalmouth scramble and a rebound off the woodwork from a penalty corner, Sunelita Toppo showed great presence of mind to tap the ball home, giving India a 2-1 lead going into halftime.
In the 33rd minute, Scotland executed a perfect passing move set up by McEwan, allowing Fiona Burnet to find the equalizer. Following the goal, Scotland dictated the tempo, controlling the majority of possession for the next seven minutes and restricting India's attacking options. After absorbing significant pressure, Lalremsiami combined well with Rutuja to win a penalty corner for India. This sparked a flurry of three consecutive penalty corners, culminating in a huge goalmouth tussle, but India could not capitalise, leaving the score tied at 2-2.
You can relive the match, as it happened, here.