South Africa were denied a second successive victory at the 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup as Malaysia struck in the final minute to secure a dramatic 3–3 draw at the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre.
Malaysia opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Abu Kamal Azrai found the net from open play, giving the Asian side a 1–0 advantage at the first break.
South Africa responded almost immediately after the restart. Luke Wynford continued his impressive international form, converting a reverse stick effort after Carlon Mentoor’s initial effort was saved.
Azrai restored Malaysia’s lead from a penalty corner five minutes later with a brilliant diving deflection, but it was truly against the run of play. The advantage did not last until half-time. Nic Spooner produced South Africa’s second equaliser in the 28th minute. The veteran of the side won the ball in his own quarter and produced a sensational finish after a wonderful combination with the brothers. The teams went into the interval locked at 2–2.
South Africa carried their momentum into the second half and moved ahead for the first time in the 43rd minute. Mustapha Cassiem added another World Cup goal to his growing tally, producing one of the finest individual goals of the tournament. The fact that it came after an administrative yellow card to the South Africans made it even sweeter as Devon van der Merwe’s side moved 3–2 in front.
The African champions protected their narrow advantage throughout the final quarter and appeared on course for another important victory following their 3–1 win over France. With a few chances going narrowly wide or just missing out.
Malaysia, however, continued to push and found a heartbreaking equaliser in the 60th minute through Faizal Saari. A long ball into the South Africa circle was not cleared and Saari made no mistake to snatch a 3–3 draw and ensured the points were shared in a pulsating Pool H encounter.
South Africa remain unbeaten in the classification phase after collecting four points from their matches against France and Malaysia, but will wait for a later result to know which position they will contest in their final game of the World Cup.
