ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan’s football team on Tuesday thrashed host Pakistan 6-1 as the Group G sides squared off at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad in the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Last month, the Pakistan men’s football team beat Cambodia 1-0 on Tuesday to win their first ever FIFA World Cup qualifier in Islamabad. Pakistan subsequently lost 4-0 to Saudi Arabia in the second round.
On Tuesday, Tajikistan’s Amadoni Kamolov netted the first goal in the ninth-minute courtesy of a minor deflection from Abdullah Iqbal. Within five minutes, the visitors doubled their lead with yet another strike from outside the box. Rustam Soirov made it impossible for Pakistan’s Yousuf Butt to save the shot from touching the net.
Rahis Nabi, Pakistan’s midfielder, gave the home crowd much-needed hope to get back in the game with a stunning goal at 21st minute — which ended up as the only goal from the hosting side — followed by a gritty defensive performance to hold Tajikistan to a goalless stalemate until halftime.
Pakistan continued to suffer in the second half, ending the game with 1-6. Pakistan are currently at 193rd position with 864.84 points on the FIFA Men’s World Ranking, while Tajikistan are on the 109th spot.
Pakistan will now face their Group G opponents Jordan next year on March 21, 2024. A total of 36 teams, grouped into nine groups, four teams each, are competing to progress through to the third round.
The top two from each group from the second round will head into the third round, where 18 nations will be split into three groups of six. From there, the top two of each group will secure their spot at FIFA World Cup 26.
