Islamabad: Pakistan football team yesterday suffered a humiliating 1-6 defeat at the hands of Tajikistan in their second match of the second round in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers. During the match being played at Islamabad's Jinnah stadium, Tajikistan got off to a brilliant start and managed to score early in the game with Kamolov scoring for the visitors courtesy of a minor deflection from Abdullah Iqbal.

The visitors soon doubled their lead with another strike from outside the box with Soirov making it impossible for Pakistan’s Yousuf Butt to prevent the ball from finding the back of the net.

Pakistan responded to Tajikistan’s lead in the 21st minute, with Rahis Nabi scoring an absolute stunner with his left foot, giving the home side and their fans much-needed hope to get back in the game. The Green Shirts didn’t have a great day in terms of team structure and off-the-ball movement as their midfield was nonexistent throughout the first half. Taking advantage of the absence of their mid, Tajikistan exploited the same empty spaces and found the back of the net in the 26th minute with another outside-the-box goal.

Problems didn’t stop for the home side as the visitors scored another goal just before the half-time whistle, extending their lead to three goals and getting in a dominating position.

Pakistan continued to suffer in the second half, they failed to keep the ball for most of the time, and the players had trouble holding on to it and slowing down the tempo of the game as every single touch was towards the goal, making it impossible for the team to have a proper structure. In the 65th minute, the Men in Green conceded another goal, another one from the edge of the box as they failed to close down the gap in their penalty box. The visitors scored one more just before the final whistle. The game ended 1-6 with Tajikistan emerging winners after a one-sided game of football, no positives were seen throughout the game apart from Nabi’s stunner in the first half.

Earlier, Pakistan suffered a 4-0 defeat against Saudia Arabia in their first FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier match.

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 22 2023

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