By Asim Siddiqui<\/strong><\/p>\n Pakistan produced a thrilling comeback to defeat Japan 4\u20133 in their opening classification-round match of the FIH Men\u2019s Hockey World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n Japan started strongly and took a 2\u20130 lead, putting Pakistan under early pressure. Pakistan responded with determination as Waheed Ashraf Rana scored twice to bring the match level at 2\u20132.<\/p>\n Hammaduddin Muhammad then gave Pakistan a 3\u20132 advantage, but Japan fought back to equalize through a penalty corner.<\/p>\n With the match finely balanced, Hanan Shahid stepped up in the fourth quarter and scored the decisive goal to secure a memorable 4\u20133 victory for Pakistan.<\/p>\n The win gives Pakistan a positive start in the classification round, where teams are competing to determine their final tournament positions. Pakistan will next face New Zealand, with another important match ahead as they look to finish the World Cup strongly.<\/p>\n Report by Asim Siddiqui<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pakistan Rally to Beat Japan 4\u20133 in World Cup Classification Match Hanan Shahid Scores Winning Goal as Pakistan Complete Impressive Comeback By Asim Siddiqui Pakistan produced a thrilling comeback to defeat Japan 4\u20133 in their opening classification-round match of the FIH Men\u2019s Hockey World Cup 2026. Japan started strongly and took a 2\u20130 lead, putting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\n