1978 Men's Hockey World Cup

The 1978 Men's Hockey World Cup was the fourth Hockey World Cup men's field hockey tournament. It was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was won by Pakistan, who defeated the Netherlands 3–2 in the final.^[1] The host nation, Argentina, finished eighth. India were the defending champions but they did not qualify for the semi-finals, eventually placing sixth.

1978 Hockey World Cup

Copa Mundial de Hockey Masculino de 1978 (Spanish)
Tournament details
Host country	Argentina
City	Buenos Aires
Dates	19 March – 2 April
Teams	14
Venue(s)	Campo de Polo
Final positions
Champions	Pakistan (2nd title)
Runner-up	Netherlands
Third place	Australia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	51
Goals scored	225 (4.41 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Paul Litjens (15 goals)
← 1975 (previous) (next) 1982 →

Results

Pool A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Australia	6	5	0	1	18	7	11	10
West Germany	6	3	2	1	25	13	12	8
India	6	3	1	2	8	12	−4	7
England	6	1	3	2	7	7	0	5
Poland	6	2	0	4	15	24	−9	4
Canada	6	1	2	3	12	16	−4	4
Belgium	6	1	2	3	12	18	−6	4

  Qualified for semifinals

Defending champions India were to play Belgium on 18 March 1978 as the opening fixture of the tournament but was postponed due to heavy rains the previous day.^[2]

Fixtures

21 March 1978 West Germany  9–4  Poland

21 March 1978 Australia  2–0  England

21 March 1978 Canada  3–1  India

22 March 1978 West Germany  3–3  Belgium

22 March 1978 England  3–0  Poland

22 March 1978 India  2–0  Australia

24 March 1978 Australia  5–2  Belgium

25 March 1978 England  3–3  Canada

25 March 1978 West Germany  7–0  India

25 March 1978 Australia  4–1  Poland

28 March 1978 Australia  4–0  Canada

28 March 1978 India  1–1  England

28 March 1978 Poland  7–4  Belgium

29 March 1978 England  0–1  Belgium

29 March 1978 Poland  2–1  Canada

29 March 1978 West Germany  4–3  Canada

29 March 1978 Australia  3–2  West Germany

29 March 1978 India  1–0  Belgium

Pool B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Pakistan	6	6	0	0	31	2	29	12
Netherlands	6	5	0	1	21	9	12	10
Spain	6	3	1	2	7	4	3	7
Argentina	6	2	2	2	9	12	−3	6
Malaysia	6	1	2	3	7	10	−3	4
Ireland	6	1	1	4	8	19	−11	3
Italy	6	0	0	6	1	28	−27	0

  Qualified for semifinals

19 March 1978 Argentina  2–1  Ireland

19 March 1978 Spain  1–0  Malaysia

21 March 1978 Pakistan  9–0  Ireland

21 March 1978 Netherlands  8–0  Italy

21 March 1978 Argentina  1–1  Malaysia

22 March 1978 Pakistan  7–0  Italy

22 March 1978 Spain  1–0  Ireland

22 March 1978 Netherlands  2–1  Malaysia

25 March 1978 Argentina  4–0  Italy

25 March 1978 Pakistan  3–1  Netherlands

25 March 1978 Malaysia  2–2  Ireland

26 March 1978 Spain  0–0  Argentina

26 March 1978 Pakistan  3–0  Malaysia

26 March 1978 Ireland  3–0  Italy

28 March 1978 Pakistan  2–1  Spain

28 March 1978 Malaysia  3–1  Italy

28 March 1978 Netherlands  3–2  Argentina

29 March 1978 Spain  3–0  Italy

29 March 1978 Netherlands  5–2  Ireland

29 March 1978 Pakistan  5–0  Argentina

Fifth to fourteenth place classification

Thirteenth and fourteenth place

1 April 1978 Italy  2–1  Belgium

Ninth to twelfth place qualifiers

31 March 1978 Poland  1–1 (AET) 4–2 (PSO)  Ireland

31 March 1978 Malaysia  2–0  Canada

Eleventh and twelfth place

1 April 1978 Canada  3–1  Ireland

Ninth and tenth place

1 April 1978 Poland  1–0  Malaysia

Fifth to eighth place qualifiers

31 March 1978 India  3–2  Argentina

31 March 1978 Spain  2–1  England

Seventh and eighth place

1 April 1978 England  3–1  Argentina

Fifth and sixth place

1 April 1978 Spain  2–0  India

First to fourth place classification

	Semi-finals				Final
	31 March
	Netherlands	3
					2 April
	Australia	2
					Pakistan	3
	31 March
					Netherlands	2
	Pakistan	1
	West Germany	0
					Third place
					2 April
					Australia	4
					West Germany	3

Semi-finals

31 March 1978 Netherlands  3–2  Australia

31 March 1978 Pakistan  1–0 (AET)  West Germany

Third and fourth place

2 April 1978 Australia  4–3  West Germany

Final

2 April 1978 Pakistan  3–2  Netherlands Rasool (pen) Islahuddin Ehsanullah Kruize (pen) Litjens Attendance: 15,000 Umpires: H Servetto (Argentina) L Gillet (France)

Pakistan
Saleem Sherwani, Munawwaruz Zaman, Saeed Ahmed, Muhammad Shafiq, Rana Ehsanullah, Akhtar Rasool, Islahuddin Siddiquee, Hanif Khan, Manzoor Hussain, Shahnaz Sheikh, Samiullah Khan

Netherlands
Maarten Sikking, André Bolhuis, Imbert Jebbink, Geert van Eijk, Hans Jorritsma, Ties Kruize, Theo Doyer, Ron Steens, Paul Litjens, Tim Steens, Wouter Leefers

1978 Hockey World Cup winner
Pakistan Second title