LAHORE: While terming the national team’s recent performance in the FIH World Cup qualifier outstanding, head coach Khawaja Junaid on Tuesday said that Pakistan could improve significantly by playing against world’s leading teams more and more.

“The way Pakistan fought back against Japan [in the semi-final] and Malaysia [in the group match] from two goals down to win both these matches signifies that the boys produced an outstanding performance,” Junaid said while talking to reporters at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore.

Following their disastrous performance in the FIH Pro League in Argentina and Australia, Pakistan gave an improved performance in the World Cup qualifier held at the Suez Canal Authority Hockey Stadium in Ismailia, Egypt earlier this month.

Junaid acknowledged that the big gap between Pakistan and world’s top ten hockey-playing countries could be reduced significantly if the Green-shirts played more games against them.

The Green-shirts beat Japan 4-3 in the semi-final but suffered a huge 4-1 loss in the final against England. By earning silver medal in the qualifier, Ammad Butt-led Pakistan qualified for the World Cup after eight years.

The World Cup is being held in Belgium and Holland in August this year.

“For many years our boys did not play [competitive] matches against world’s leading teams,” he said. “Recently, they faced these opponents in the FIH Pro Hockey League and now they will also play matches in [2026] World Cup. [Hopefully] by competing in these matches they will be in their best shape to beat any team [in future].

“If I compare the performance of the team in Egypt to its past shows, it was the best. The players featured in the qualifier immediately after their tour of Australia where they had remained in stress amid severe criticism due to poor performance. However, they came out strongly to meet all the challenges for this the credit goes to their unity which they showed both on and off the field throughout the tour,” Junaid stated.

On what was the players’ immediate need which could enable them to give an improved performance in the forthcoming events, Junaid said that financial hardship faced by the players was a burning issue that required an immediate solution.

“Look, they [players] are facing a lot of financial problems. They also need jobs to focus completely on their game instead of worrying about the financial problems of their families,” the head coach highlighted.

“I am thankful to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for taking the steps which will help to bring Pakistan hockey back on track. Ad-hoc PHF president [Mohyuddin Ahmad] Wani is making a lot of efforts which have pursued the players to keep focus on their game,” Junaid said.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026