Poreć 2025 – What a Spectacle!

Germany and Poland were crowned champions of the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Poreć on Sunday, but the emergence of Africa as a major force was also an important takeaway from a magnificent event.

South Africa’s men won a medal for the first time ever by finishing third after Germany and Austria, while Namibia broke new ground, with the women finishing sixth and the men eighth. 

On a dramatic final day at the Zatika Sport Centre, South Africa’s men won the bronze medal after a thrilling 6-5 victory against Belgium. 

The tournament’s top scorer, Philippe Simar put Belgium 2-0 ahead, but South Africa’s talisman Mustaphaa Cassiem struck back with two goals to level the score, and when his brother Dayaan scored just before halftime South Africa took the lead for the first time. 

A short corner goal by Hans Neethling put SA 4-2 ahead, but Belgium struck back through Maximilian Langer to reduce the deficit to 4-3 going into the final quarter. 

Mustaphaa Cassiem, however, sealed his hattrick with a great field goal, and when Dayaan scored they went 6-3 ahead. 

Belgium pulled two late goals back through Gaetan Dykmans and Langer, but it was not enough as SA held on for a well-deserved victory, and a first-ever medal for Africa on the world’s biggest stage. 

Mustaphaa’s hattrick, meanwhile, took his tournament tally to 17 goals, to finish second behind Simar with 20 goals, but Cassiem’s all-round skills and big match temperament were duly rewarded when he later won the player of the tournament award. 

Namibia’s men earlier finished eighth overall after a 5-4 defeat to Iran. Ernest Jacobs put Namibia ahead from an early short corner but Hamid Nooranian soon equalisedfor Iran. 

Liam Hermanus restored Namibia’s lead from a short corner, but another Nooranian short corner goal put the teams level at 2-2 going into the halftime break. 

The momentum swung Iran’s way as they scored three goals in the third quarter through Nooranian, Mohsen Bohlouli and Mahdi Shahrokhi to go 5-2 ahead, and altough Namibia onceagain finished strongly, with goals by JP Britz and Dakota Hansen, it was not enough as Iran held on for a narrow 5-4 win. 

Despite the defeat, Namibia matched their best-ever performance of eighth overall at the Indoor World Cup, while they went toe-to-toe with some of the world’s leading nations. 

Besides their 5-4 defeat to the world’s second-ranked nation Iran, they also lost 7-6 to third-ranked Belgium, while they held fourth-ranked Australia to a 5-5 draw in their pool match, before losing 4-3 to them in the play-offs.  

Namibia’s women, though, did even better, as they finished sixth overall after losing 6-1 to Belgium in the fifth-place play-off match on Sunday. 

Namibia matched Belgium for much of the first half, and going into halftime 1-0 behind, the match was still wide open. 

Belgium, however, turned on the pressure in the second half and although Tara Myburgh opened Namibia’s account, it was not enough as Belgium ran out comfortable 6-1 winners. 

In their pool matches, Namibia stunned fifth-ranked Australia 3-2 and thumped 15th-ranked New Zealand 7-0, before losing 8-1 to sixth-ranked Germany. 

In the knock-out stages, Namibia lost 5-1 to third-ranked Austria, before beating 18th-ranked Thailand 3-2. 

By finishing sixth overall, Namibia beat their previous best of ninth at the 2018 World Cup in Berlin, but they have not yet secured an extra place for Africa at the next world cup as originally suggested by coach Shayne Cormack.

“FIH will evaluate the qualification criteria for the FIH Hockey 2029 Indoor World Cup only after the FIH Hockey Indoor World Cup Croatia 2025 ends. The qualification criteria for Indoor World Cups are updated and re-evaluated after every edition,” the FIH said in an official statement on Sunday. 

The women’s World Cup ended in fairytale style when Poland won the title for the first time ever after beating Austria 1-0 in a close encounter. It was also a special day for their veteran captain Marlena Rybacha, who won the player of the tournament award. 

The men’s final went down to the wire as Germany dethroned world champions Austria after a thrilling penalty shootout. The teams were tied 6-6 at the end of full time but Germany clinched the title with a dramatic 2-1 penalty win. 

It was the first time in 14 years that Germany had won the title, while it was Austria’s first defeat on the world’s biggest stage in 10 years. 

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