Australia equaled a World Cup record with victory (3-0) over England in the World Cup in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. It brought the World No. 1 defending champions their 15th win in a row in the competition, starting with a 5-2 victory over India at the 2010 New Delhi World Cup and continuing the streak into the next edition in The Hague, the Netherlands four years later.

The Aussies are now level with Pakistan who, after losing the 1975 final 1-2 to India in Kuala Lumpur, registered 15 successive victories – eight at the 1978 World Cup in Buenos Aires followed by seven more in Mumbai four years later.

Pakistan, however, lost their opener in 1986 to Argentina 1-3.

Curiously, the last match Australia failed to win at the World Cup was against England – a 2-3 defeat in the opener in New Delhi. They now play China and, barring a result of epic proportions, should have the record for their very own.

Its already a record for the World Cups held on synthetic surface

THE WINNING STREAKS:
PAKISTAN: 1978 WC: bt Ireland 9-0, bt Italy 7-0, bt Netherlands 3-1, bt Malaysia 3-0, bt Spain 2-1, bt Argentina 7-0. Semifinals: bt Germany 1-0 (aet); final: bt Netherlands 3-2.

1982 WC: bt Argentina 6-1, bt Spain 4-1, bt New Zealand 12-3, bt Germany 5-3, bt Poland 4-1. Semifinals: bt Netherlands 4-2. Final: bt Germany 3-1.

AUSTRALIA: 2010 WC: bt India 5-2, bt South Africa 12-0, bt Spain 2-0, bt Pakistan 2-1. Semis: bt Netherlands 2-1. Final: bt Germany 2-1.

2014 WC: bt Malaysia 4-0, bt Spain 3-0, bt India 4-0, bt Belgium 3-1, bt England 5-0. Semis: bt Argentina 5-1, final: bt Netherlands 6-1.

COMPLETE RECORD OF AUSTRALIA AT WORLD CUP

(from www.stick2hockey.com archive)



1971

1 Pakistan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 5
2 Japan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 1
3 Netherlands &nbsp 0 — 1
4 Spain &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 0
5 Germany &nbsp &nbsp 0 — 1
6 France &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 0 — 1

1975 —
7 Ghana &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 9 — 0
8 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 3
9 India &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 1
10 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 2
11 Argentina &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 0
12 New Zealand &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 0
13 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 1

1978 —
14 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 0
15 India &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 0 — 2
16 Belgium &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 2
17 Poland &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 1
18 Canada &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 0
19 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 2
20 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 3
21 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 3

1981 —
22 USSR &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 2
23 Malaysia &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 0
24 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 0
25 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 2
26 India &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1
27 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 3
28 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 2

1986 —
29 Canada &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 6 — 2
30 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 2
31 Spain &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 6 — 0
32 India &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 6 — 0
33 Poland &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 2
34 USSR &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 0
35 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1

1990 —
36 Argentina &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 1
37 France &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 1
38 USSR &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 0
39 India &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 2
40 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 0
41 Pakistan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 2
42 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1

1994 —
43 Belarus &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 0
44 Argentina &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1
45 Pakistan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 2
46 Spain &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1
47 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 0
48 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 3
49 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 2

1998 —
50 Poland &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 8 — 0
51 Spain &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 2
52 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 0
53 Malaysia &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 8 — 0
54 Pakistan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 1
55 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 6
56 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 0 — 1

2002 —
57 Malaysia &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 0
58 Poland &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 1
59 Cuba &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 6 — 0
60 Japan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 0
61 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 0
62 South Korea &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 2
63 India &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 3
64 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 1
65 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 2

2006 —
66 Spain &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1 — 3
67 Argentina &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 0
68 Japan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 1
69 New Zealand &nbsp &nbsp 7 — 1
70 Pakistan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 0
71 South Korea &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 2
72 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 4

2010 —
73 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 3
74 India &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 2
75 South Africa &nbsp &nbsp 12 — 0
76 Spain &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 0
77 Pakistan &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1
78 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1
79 Germany &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1

2014 —
80 Malaysia &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 0
81 Spain &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 0
82 Belgium &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 1
83 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 0
84 India &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4 — 0
85 Argentina &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 5 — 1
86 Netherlands &nbsp &nbsp 6 — 1

2018 —
87 Ireland &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2 — 1
88 England &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3 — 0
&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp280 — 104