# 1978 Men's Hockey World Cup

The 1978 Men's Hockey World Cup was the fourth Hockey World Cup men's field hockey tournament. It was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was won by Pakistan, who defeated the Netherlands 3–2 in the final. The host nation, Argentina, finished eighth.

## Results
### Pool A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Australia | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 10 |
| West Germany | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 8 |
| India | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 7 |
| England | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 |
| Poland | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 24 | −9 | 4 |
| Canada | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 4 |
| Belgium | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 4 |
    Qualified for semifinals
Defending champions India were to play Belgium on 18 March 1978 as the opening fixture of the tournament but was postponed due to heavy rains the previous day.

### Fixtures

* 21 March 1978
| West Germany | 9–4 | Poland |
* 21 March 1978
| Australia | 2–0 | England |
* 21 March 1978
| Canada | 3–1 | India |
* 22 March 1978
| West Germany | 3–3 | Belgium |
* 22 March 1978
| England | 3–0 | Poland |
* 22 March 1978
| India | 2–0 | Australia |
* 24 March 1978
| Australia | 5–2 | Belgium |
* 25 March 1978
| England | 3–3 | Canada |
* 25 March 1978
| West Germany | 7–0 | India |
* 25 March 1978
| Australia | 4–1 | Poland |
* 28 March 1978
| Australia | 4–0 | Canada |
* 28 March 1978
| India | 1–1 | England |
* 28 March 1978
| Poland | 7–4 | Belgium |
* 29 March 1978
| England | 0–1 | Belgium |
* 29 March 1978
| Poland | 2–1 | Canada |
* 29 March 1978
| West Germany | 4–3 | Canada |
* 29 March 1978
| Australia | 3–2 | West Germany |
* 29 March 1978
| India | 1–0 | Belgium |

### Pool B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Pakistan | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 29 | 12 |
| Netherlands | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 10 |
| Spain | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Argentina | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 6 |
| Malaysia | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 4 |
| Ireland | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 19 | −11 | 3 |
| Italy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 28 | −27 | 0 |
    Qualified for semifinals
* 19 March 1978
| Argentina | 2–1 | Ireland |
* 19 March 1978
| Spain | 1–0 | Malaysia |
* 21 March 1978
| Pakistan | 9–0 | Ireland |
* 21 March 1978
| Netherlands | 8–0 | Italy |
* 21 March 1978
| Argentina | 1–1 | Malaysia |
* 22 March 1978
| Pakistan | 7–0 | Italy |
* 22 March 1978
| Spain | 1–0 | Ireland |
* 22 March 1978
| Netherlands | 2–1 | Malaysia |
* 25 March 1978
| Argentina | 4–0 | Italy |
* 25 March 1978
| Pakistan | 3–1 | Netherlands |
* 25 March 1978
| Malaysia | 2–2 | Ireland |
* 26 March 1978
| Spain | 0–0 | Argentina |
* 26 March 1978
| Pakistan | 3–0 | Malaysia |
* 26 March 1978
| Ireland | 3–0 | Italy |
* 28 March 1978
| Pakistan | 2–1 | Spain |
* 28 March 1978
| Malaysia | 3–1 | Italy |
* 28 March 1978
| Netherlands | 3–2 | Argentina |
* 29 March 1978
| Spain | 3–0 | Italy |
* 29 March 1978
| Netherlands | 5–2 | Ireland |
* 29 March 1978
| Pakistan | 5–0 | Argentina |

### Fifth to fourteenth place classification
#### Thirteenth and fourteenth place

* 1 April 1978
| Italy | 2–1 | Belgium |

#### Ninth to twelfth place qualifiers

* 31 March 1978
| Poland | 1–1 (AET) 4–2 (PSO) | Ireland |
* 31 March 1978
| Malaysia | 2–0 | Canada |

#### Eleventh and twelfth place

* 1 April 1978
| Canada | 3–1 | Ireland |

#### Ninth and tenth place

* 1 April 1978
| Poland | 1–0 | Malaysia |

#### Fifth to eighth place qualifiers

* 31 March 1978
| India | 3–2 | Argentina |
* 31 March 1978
| Spain | 2–1 | England |

#### Seventh and eighth place

* 1 April 1978
| England | 3–1 | Argentina |

#### Fifth and sixth place

* 1 April 1978
| Spain | 2–0 | India |

### First to fourth place classification

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 31 March | 31 March |
| Netherlands | 3 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 2 April | 2 April |
| Australia | 2 | 2 April | 2 April |
| Australia | 2 | Pakistan | 3 |
| 31 March | 31 March | | Pakistan | 3 |
| 31 March | 31 March | Netherlands | 2 |
| Pakistan | 1 | Netherlands | 2 |
| West Germany | 0 | | |
| West Germany | 0 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 2 April | 2 April |
| | | Australia | 4 |
| | | West Germany | 3 |

#### Semi-finals

* 31 March 1978
| Netherlands | 3–2 | Australia |
* 31 March 1978
| Pakistan | 1–0 (AET) | West Germany |

#### Third and fourth place

* 2 April 1978
| Australia | 4–3 | West Germany |

#### Final

* 2 April 1978
| Pakistan | 3–2 | Netherlands |
| Rasool (pen) Islahuddin Ehsanullah | | Kruize (pen) Litjens |
* Attendance: 15,000 Umpires: H Servetto (Argentina) L Gillet (France)
Pakistan Saleem Sherwani, Munawwaruz Zaman, Saeed Ahmed, Muhammad Shafiq, Rana Ehsanullah, Akhtar Rasool, Islahuddin Siddiquee, Hanif Khan, Manzoor Hussain, Shahnaz Sheikh, Samiullah Khan
Netherlands Maarten Sikking, André Bolhuis, Imbert Jebbink, Geert van Eijk, Hans Jorritsma, Ties Kruize, Theo Doyer, Ron Steens, Paul Litjens, Tim Steens, Wouter Leefers
* 1978 Hockey World Cup winner
* Pakistan Second title