The Pakistan men’s football team on Tuesday was guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship 2026 following India’s narrow victory over Maldives at the National Stadium Dhaka in Bangladesh.
Pakistan will face SAFF Championship 2026 hosts Bangladesh on November 14 at the National Stadium Dhaka.
The Green Shirts, placed in Group B of the six-team tournament, started their campaign with a second string squad and faced a gut-wrenching 3-2 defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India. India raced to a 3-0 lead in first half via a brace by Suhail Ahmad Bhat and one by Manglenthang Kipgen. Pakistan even missed a late first half penalty with Shayek Dost skying his spot kick over the bar. Late goals from Najeebullah Bettani and Alamgir Ghazi helped Pakistan reduce the deficit.
But Pakistan made an immediate turnaround in their subsequent fixture, in which they outclassed Maldives 3-0. An early penalty from McKeal Abdullah and a brace from Najeebullah Bettani helped the Shaheens get invaluable 3 points.
Pakistan’s had to await confirmation of securing a place in the knockout stage of the SAFF Championship 2026 on the outcome of the last Group B match between leaders India and Maldives.
India winning their own fixture with Maldives earlier today guaranteed Pakistan’s semifinal spot. The Blue Tigers prevailed 1-0 against Maldives, with Suhail Bhat scoring a first half penalty.
India, thus, topped Group B with six points, while Pakistan finished second with three points. Maldives bowed out of the tournament winless with 0 points.
On November 14, both semifinals of the 2026 SAFF Championship take place. India face Group A runners up and surprise package Bhutan in the first semifinal at 2:00pm Pakistan Standard Time (PKT). Then at 7:30pm, Pakistan take on Group A winners and tournament hosts Bangladesh.
The Green Shirts’ opponent for the semi-final, however, will be determined after the last league-stage fixture between hosts Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, slated to be played at the same venue at 7:00 PM as per Pakistan Standard Time (PST).
In Group A, hosts Bangladesh began with a 1-0 win over Bhutan. This was followed by a surprising 2-2 draw between Bhutan and Sri Lanka with the Bhutanese fighting hard to secure a precious point. Sri Lanka was then blown away by Bangladesh 4-0. The hosts had their talisman and former English Premier League midfielder Hamza Choudhury to thank for an inspiring performance.
Sri Lanka’s worse goal difference meant they finished bottom of Group A and were knocked out while Bhutan finished second and qualified for the semifinals despite both having a point each.
Pakistan, meanwhile, received a major boost ahead of the high-stakes SAFF Championship 2026 semifinal as five key diaspora players joined the squad in Bangladesh, including captain Abdullah Iqbal, Easah Suliman, Adil Nabi, Ali Akbar Khan and Abdul Samad Arshad.
Notably, the five players missed Pakistan’s Group B matches as they were held before the designated FIFA international window of 9-17 November 2026. Their European clubs refused to grant early release for international duty, meaning Pakistan had to play the first two games with a depleted squad.
