Junior Hockey World Cup 2025: Spain, Germany record big wins in Madurai

Defending Champion Germany began its title defence in dominant fashion, beating South Africa 4-0 in the opening Pool A match of the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup 2025 in Madurai on Friday. Justus Warweg led the way with two goals from open play. Ben Hasbach and captain Paul Glander were the other names on the scoresheet. 

Spain and Belgium, two of the other major contenders, got their competition in Pool D off to a dominant start with mammoth victories over African opposition. 

Germany, the seven-time title winner, took some time to click into gear as the opponent put up a dogged defence in the first quarter. The opening goal came in the 19th minute, following a quick restart after a foul near the halfway line. The ball was played through to the right flank, from where Titus Wex squared it to the far post for Warweg to finish. 

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South Africa had two gilt-edge chances late in the second quarter but failed to equalise. Brett Horn found himself in space in the centre of the shooting circle, but his hurried shot went wide. A couple of minutes later, he was thwarted in his attempt to round the keeper after Germany’s custodian Jasper Ditzer went down early, blocking the angle. 

Coach Mirko Stenzel’s side found some wiggle room in the 43rd minute when Hasbach drove the penalty stroke low into the bottom-left corner after goalscorer Warweg was tripped in the ‘D’. A minute later, Glander extinguished any hopes of a South African comeback after scoring from a PC. Germany, which began the game looking to maintain possession against the solid South Africa defence, found more gaps opening up in the final quarter, creating more opportunities for counterattacks. Warweg’s second goal came about after one such quick transition. The 18-year-old danced past the keeper before slotting the ball into the net on the second attempt to seal a comfortable win.

Ireland survived a late comeback effort from Canada to earn a 4-3 win in the other Pool A encounter. Captain Louis Rowe scored a brace for the Green Army, with Gregory Williams and Milo Thompson contributing the other two. Gurnoor Bhullar equalised for Canada in the second quarter before the Irish sped to a 4-1 lead. Leighton de Souza’s two PC goals in the final quarter went in vain. 

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In the opening Pool D encounter, Spain handed Egypt an 8-0 thrashing with Bruno Avila scoring a hat-trick. The third-place finisher from the previous edition was relentless against a hapless Egypt side that failed to muster anything of note going forward. Spain’s attackers ran the opponent’s defence ragged, dominating the striking circle throughout the contest. Avila’s hat-trick and Albert Serrahima’s second-quarter goal came via PCs. Josep Martin’s double and goals from Andres Medina and Ton Moran completed the rout. 

Belgium went one better, completing a 12-1 demolition job over tournament first-timer Namibia to move to the top spot in the Pool. Mathis Lauwers temporarily jumped to the top of the competition’s goal leaderboard, sounding the board four times. After managing to concede just one in the first quarter, Namibia capitulated following the short break, shipping in six more ahead of half-time. The midfielders losing possession near the centre further compounded its issues, as Belgium added counter-attacking goals to its already broadening set-piece tally. 

Namibia scored its first Junior World Cup goal when John-Paul Britz fired a PC past the Belgian number one, but that proved to be just a meek consolation. Just as the new Madurai turf welcomed a steady drizzle, the Young Red Lions added two more, including Hugo Labouchere’s third, to make it 12 on the day.

Published on Nov 28, 2025