K. ARUMUGAM
Reigning Olympic & World Cup champions Belgium is the most experienced team out of the sixteen for the Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023. Be it collective caps or most capped players in the team, Belgium stands head and shoulders above the rest. Its collective caps of 4126 caps is nearly double that of Australia (2632) or the third ranked India (2289). It has a whopping five players who has 300 plus caps. Check the other facts below:
With the enviable 436 individual international caps, Belgium’s veteran John-John Dohmen will be the MOST capped player in India in the World Cup. Former Indian captain Manpreet Singh is 7th most capped.
1. John-John Dohmen Belgium 436 Caps
2. Eddie Ockenden Australia 402
3. Felix Denayer Belgium 361
4. Cedric Charlier Belgium 353
5. Tom Boom Belgium 325
6. Simon Beligum 317
7. Manpreet Singh INDIA 314
8. Jang Jonhhyun South Korea 309
John John Dohman of Belgium (left)
Top five teams in terms of Collective Caps (Sum of caps of all team members).
1. Belgium 4126 (PP 206)
2. Australia 2632 (PP 132)
3. India 2289 (PP 114)
4. Malaysia 2105 (PP 105)
5. England 1871 (PP 94)
PP= Per Player. Includes interactive Players
Interestingly, Spain, who open their match against the host India, is the least experienced in terms of collective caps (1054)
India’s leading WC scorers on turf
1. Mukesh Kr.: 7 (1994, 3), 1998,4)
2. Sivender 7 (2006, 4), 2010,3).
3. Akashdeep 7 (2014,5), 2018(2)
5. Dhanraj Pillay 5 (4 World Cups)
7 (Deepak, Daljit, Prabjoth, Dilip, Baljit, Sandeep, Rajpal) 4 each. Overall, 45 ind plyrs scored goals on turf in WC
1. Mukesh Kr.: 7 (1994, 3), 1998,4)
2. Sivender 7 (2006, 4), 2010,3).
3. Akashdeep 7 (2014,5), 2018(2)
5. Dhanraj Pillay 5 (4 World Cups)
7 (Deepak, Daljit, Prabjoth, Dilip, Baljit, Sandeep, Rajpal) 4 each. Overall, 45 ind plyrs scored goals on turf in WC
Akashdeep struck 5 goals in 2014. This is a record for top individual score by an Indian in a single edition in World Cup held on turf.