ISMAILIA: England in a clinical performance defeated Pakistan 4-1 in the final of the FIH World Cup qualifier in Ismailia, Egypt on Saturday to cap a dominant campaign which saw them secure their place at this year’s global tournament, alongside Pakistan.

The Ammad Butt-led Pakistan lost the decider, they had already qualified for the World Cup, being staged jointly in the Netherlands and Belgium in August, by finishing second in the Ismailia event.

England earned their first penalty corner just 49 seconds after the start at the Suez Canal Authority Hockey Stadium, but it wasn’t until the second quarter that they found the breakthrough.

The lead came in the 18th minute when Henry Croft’s shot across goal took a fortunate deflection off a Pakistan defender. Pakistan played with great intensity for the remainder of the period, and while they may have frustrated the English attack, the Green-shirts were unable to turn that pressure into a goal of their own, leaving England 1-0 ahead at the half-time break.

Pakistan, who remained unbeaten till the semi-final of the qualifying event, continued to apply pressure at the start of the third quarter, but it was England who struck again. Sam Hooper doubled their lead in the 35th minute with a powerful drag flick from a penalty corner.

England then slowed the tem­po and began to retake control, and Hoo­per added a third goal five minutes later from another penalty corner.

Pakistan were then finally rewarded for their persistence in the 42nd minute when Rana Waleed tapped in a cross from Ghazanfar Ali. But Ben Fox made absolutely sure of the England victory with another goal in the 52nd minute to wrap up a 4-1 win.

Hooper, who was named player-of-the-match, expressed satisfaction at achieving the target set by England.

“We came [to Egypt] with the idea of winning the tournament, not just qualifying. Obviously, qualifying was the most important thing, but we really wanted to come out here and win every game and do that by playing our style, and I think we’ve done that all week. So we’re really happy,” Hooper said after the final.

In the bronze-medal match, Japan came from two goals down to edge Malaysia 5-4, although both the teams celebrated qualification for the World Cup.

Three goals in five minutes in the final quarter saw Japan come from behind to beat Malaysia to seal their qualification. However, Malaysia also booked their ticket as the highest-ranked fourth-place finishers across the two qualifying events.

In the other match of the day, China clawed their way back to smash four goals to beat hosts Egypt 4-3 and secure fifth place in the tournament.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2026