Hockey World Cup 2018: India vs Netherlands quarter final live stream, TV listings & preview

India stands on the brink of history as they face the Netherlands in the quarter-final of the 2018 Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

The stage is set for a mega-match as India prepares to battle the Netherlands in the quarter-final of the 2018 Hockey World Cup on Thursday, December 13 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

When do the matches start and where to watch it

The match between India and Netherlands will kick off at 7 pm local time and 2:30 pm BST.

Star Sports 1, Star Sports Select 1 and their corresponding HD channels will provide the live television coverage of the match. The live stream will be available on FIH's official YouTube channel as well as on Hotstar.

India vs Netherlands quarterfinal preview

India was a confirmed quarter-finalist by finishing top of their group with two victories and a draw. The Netherlands, on the other hand, convincingly defeated Canada 4-0 in the crossover tie to book their tickets against the hosts on Thursday.

India Hockey World Cup — The Indian Hockey Team singing their national anthem before the first match of the 2018 Hockey World CupMcQuillan/Getty Images for FIH

The two teams are separated by one spot on the FIH team rankings with India being a rung higher than their opponents at 4^th place. But the overall head-to-head record belongs to the Dutch as they lead India 48-33 in their 105 previous meetings.

Despite the history, pressure will be firmly on the hosts as a stellar group stage campaign has raised expectations after a very disappointing run at the Commonwealth Games followed by a massive upset at the Asian Games.

The Dutch skipper, Billy Bakker echoed the same sentiment.

"The Indian team also has lot of pressure. They need to perform in front of their home crowd. So I feel the pressure is more on the Indian team than us."

The Indian camp was already preparing for the Dutch challenge before the latter competed in their crossover tie and captain Manpreet Singh admitted that it will be a tough match.

"Most likely we will face Netherlands. The past results matter a lot – because Netherlands have a better result against us. But, we have played well against them recently. We have also beaten them, we drew against them at Champions Trophy. Indian Hockey has improved a lot. The match will be tough, and which ever team plays better will win," Manpreet said to the reporters at the Kalinga Stadium, according to a report by The Indian Express.

Manpreet's men will be aware that a victory on Thursday will place this team in the annals of history for becoming the first Indian Hockey Team to make it to the semi-final of the world event since the World Cup winners of 1975.