India men's hockey team's semi-final opponent at Tokyo 2020: Belgium

India men's hockey team will take on World No.2 Belgium in the men's hockey semi-finals at the Oi Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

The Manpreet-Singh led side qualified for the semi-finals after outclassing Great Britain 3-1 in the quarter-final match on Sunday. India men's hockey team, thus, qualified for the semi-finals for the first time after 1972 Munich.

Dilpreet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16') and Hardik Singh (57) found the back of the net for the Men in Blue while Samuel Ward (45') was the lone goal scorer for Great Britain.

How did India men's hockey team progress to Tokyo 2020 semifinal?

India were placed in Pool A at Tokyo 2020 along side reigning Olympic champions Argentina, World No.1 Australia, hosts Japan, Spain and New Zealand.

The Men in Blue began their campaign in the pool stage with a 3-2 over New Zealand. However, they were dealt with a major blow as they were hammered 1-7 by Australia. But the Manpreet Singh-led side bounced back quite strongly then as the defeated Spain (3-0), defending champions Argentina (3-1) and Japan (5-3).

India finished second in Pool A with 12 points to qualify for the quarter-finals where they beat Great Britain.

Who are India men's hockey team's next opponent: Belgium?

Belgium are ranked World No. 2 currently and will be tough challenge to overcome for the Indian side. It must be noted that Belgium are the current World Champions, having won the 2018 World Cup held in India. Incidentally, India had held Belgium to a 2-2 draw in the group stages of the World Cup.

Nicknamed, the Red Lions, the side is still to register a loss at Tokyo 2020. Belgium were placed along side Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, South Africa and Canada in Pool B.

They clinched victories in their four out of five pool stage matches with their only draw coming against India's quarter-finals opponent Great Britain. In the quarter-finals, Belgium beat Spain 3-1, to set-up a semi-final clash against India.

Alexander Hendrickx is Belgium's danger man in attack, having scored 11 goals already including two hat-tricks already. The Indian defence will have to be wary of him.

Coached by Shane McLeod, Belgium will look to go one better than their performance at Rio 2016, where they clinched a silver medal. Incidentally, India were knocked out of the Rio 2016 Olympics by Belgium in the quarter-finals.

Belgium's first medal at the Olympics - a bronze - came at Antwerp 1920.

In 2019, India hada tour to Belgium where they played three games against the Red Lions. Interestingly, India won all three - 2-0, 2-1 and 5-1.

Graham Reid's men will look to take inspiration from those results.