India v South Korea Tonight: Perfect Record on the Line as Korea Chase a Third Straight Win
The last league game of the Asian Champions Trophy is the one with the most riding on it. India against South Korea, 6:30pm Pakistan time in Jalandhar, and both sides have something real to play for.
India’s case is simple. Four games, four wins, 26 goals scored, and a point tonight guarantees top spot and a semi-final against the fourth-placed side in Mohali on Wednesday. Harmanpreet Singh has been the story of the tournament so far, with eight goals including Sunday’s hat-trick against Malaysia, and India have won every game by at least two goals. Nobody has got close to them yet.
South Korea are the team most likely to change that. They started this tournament with two defeats and looked finished. Then came the comeback win over China, 2-1 from a goal down, and then Sunday’s 5-0 demolition of Bangladesh, built on Son Da-in’s hat-trick and two Park Geun-woo penalty corners. Two wins on the bounce, six points, and a team arriving in form at exactly the right time.
The maths is tight. A draw keeps India top. A Korea win takes them to nine points and at least fourth, and whether they finish third or fourth would then come down to the Japan-Malaysia result and goal difference. Either way, Korea are through to Mohali already, so tonight is about the draw, not survival. For India, it is about keeping a perfect record intact and making sure they do not hand their rivals a psychological lift three days before the medals are decided.
After tonight, the tournament moves to Mohali. Wednesday brings the fifth-place playoff at 1:30pm, then the two semi-finals at 4:00pm and 6:30pm Pakistan time, with the bronze medal match and the final on Thursday. Win tonight and India go there as the team everyone else wants to avoid. Win tonight and Korea go there believing they can beat anyone.
Related:
- https://sportscursor.com/act-monday-final-league-day-india-korea-malaysia-japan-2-november-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/india-4-2-malaysia-harmanpreet-hat-trick-act-1-november-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/korea-5-0-bangladesh-act-semi-race-1-november-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/mohali-act-knockouts-semis-4-november-final-5-november-2026/
- https://sportscursor.com/live/
