India beat Japan 4-1 in the Asian Champions Trophy final at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, 5 November, to win the title for a third straight edition. Japan led 1-0 at half time after Kazumasa Matsumoto scored in the third minute, and the home side trailed until the 42nd minute. Four goals in 12 minutes then turned the match around and gave India a sixth Asian Champions Trophy crown in front of a packed home crowd.
Matsumoto stunned the crowd with an early strike, and Japan held the lead through a disciplined defensive effort that kept India scoreless in the first quarter for the first time in the tournament. The visitors sat deep, closed the space in midfield, and forced India to work the ball around the edge of the circle. India pressed hard after the break and found the equaliser when Shilanand Lakra scored in the 42nd minute. Dilpreet Singh put India ahead in the 48th minute, Jugraj Singh converted a penalty corner in the 52nd minute, and a fourth goal in the 54th minute closed out a 4-1 win in the Asian Champions Trophy final.
The result matched the 4-1 scoreline from the league stage meeting between the two sides in Jalandhar, and it kept India unbeaten through the Asian Champions Trophy. India won every match across the league stage in Jalandhar and the knockouts in Mohali, and the final win capped a campaign in which the hosts scored freely and conceded little. Malaysia took the bronze medal earlier in the day, beating South Korea 5-2 in the third place play-off. The Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali hosted the semi-finals and the final, while the league stage was played in Jalandhar.
Asian Champions Trophy final turns in 12 minutes
Four goals in 12 minutes settled the Asian Champions Trophy final at the start of the fourth quarter. Lakra levelled the score in the 42nd minute, and the goal changed the shape of the game as Japan dropped deeper and India pushed more players forward. Dilpreet scored six minutes later, Jugraj added a penalty corner conversion, and the fourth goal arrived in the 54th minute. Japan tried to fight back in the closing stages, but the home side held its shape and saw out the remaining minutes without conceding again.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh led a side coached by Craig Fulton, and the win added a third straight Asian Champions Trophy title to the Asian Games gold the same group has won. Fulton has now guided India to three straight titles in the competition, and the squad stayed unbeaten from the first league match in Jalandhar to the final in Mohali. The players celebrated in front of the home crowd after the final whistle, and the trophy stayed in India for another edition.
How India reached the final
India opened the campaign with a 13-0 win over Bangladesh and followed it with a 5-2 win over China in the league stage. The hosts won all five league matches in Jalandhar before moving to Mohali for the knockouts, where they beat South Korea 8-1 in the semi-final. The ninth edition of the Asian Champions Trophy ran from 27 October to 5 November, with the league stage in Jalandhar and the semi-finals and final in Mohali.
India has now won the Asian Champions Trophy six times, in 2011, 2016, 2018, 2023, 2024 and 2026. No other team has won the tournament more than twice, and India is the first side to lift the trophy in three editions in a row. The run showed how far ahead of the field the hosts were across the tournament, with wins in every match they played.
Asian Champions Trophy record now reads six titles
The 2026 edition closed with India on top of the podium, Japan with silver, and Malaysia with bronze after the 5-2 win over South Korea. The final whistle in Mohali ended a nine day tournament played across two cities in Punjab, and India left the stadium with the trophy for the third edition in a row.