ISLAMABAD: Pakistan faced a resounding 0-7 defeat against Jordan in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Round 2 Qualifier away fixture at the Amman International Stadium on Wednesday.
The match was part of the fourth round of Group Seven competitions in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
“Defeat in Amman,” the Pakistan Football Federation said on X, announcing the results of the match.
Jordan’s Musa Al-Taamari scored a hat-trick by netting the first, fourth, and sixth goals. Yazan Al-Naimat contributed the second goal through a penalty kick while Saad Al-Rousan got a third goal for his team.
Adding to the scoreline was Ali Alwan who found the back of the net in the 75th minute, followed by Muhammad Abu Zureiq, who scored the seventh goal.
The victory has put Jordan in second place in Group Seven of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with a total of seven points. Two teams from the group will now advance to the third round, while the remaining two sides will play in the Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers.
Last Thursday, Jordan thrashed Pakistan 3-0 at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad during the first qualifying match between the two sides. This was Jordan’s first visit to Pakistan for a football match in 18 years.
Pakistan’s journey in the qualifiers has been a mix of victories and defeats.
Pakistan clinched a 1-0 victory against Cambodia last October, marking their first-ever FIFA World Cup qualifier win in Islamabad, but then suffered a 4-0 loss to Saudi Arabia in the subsequent round.
Squads
Pakistan: Yousuf Butt, Saqib Hanif, Abdul Basit, Hassan Ali, Easah Suliman, Abdullah Iqbal, Mamoon Musa, Haseeb Khan, Mohammad Saddam, Mohammad Sohail, Rao Omar, Mohammad Fazal, Mohammad Adeel, Rahis Nabi, Harun Hamid, Alamgir Ghazi, Rajab Ali, Ali Uzair, Shayek Dost, Abdul Samad, FareedUllah, Waleed Khan, Imran Kayani, Adeel Younis.
Jordan: Yazid Abu Laila, Ahmed Al-Jaidi, Abdullah Al-Fakhouri, Yazan Al-Arab, Baraa Marhi, Anas Bani Yassin, Saad Al-Rousan, Ihsan Haddad, Firas Shalbaya, Salem Al-Ajalin, Mahmoud Shawkat, Nizar Al-Rashdan, Ibrahim Saada, Nour Al-Rawabdeh, Rajai Ayed, Youssef Abu Jalbush, Saleh Ratib, Mahmoud Mardi, Muhammad Abu Rizk, Ali Alwan, Muhammad Abu Zureiq “Sharara”, Musa Al-Taamari, and Yazan Al-Naimat.
Pakistan face 0-7 defeat in second FIFA qualifier against Jordan
https://arab.news/cgeup
Pakistan face 0-7 defeat in second FIFA qualifier against Jordan
- Match was part of fourth round of Group Seven competitions in Asian qualifiers for 2026 World Cup
- Last Thursday, Jordan thrashed Pakistan 3-0 at Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad during qualifying match
PIA owner says airline in talks with Boeing as privatization deal formally concludes
- PIA’s new owner Arif Habib vows to improve service delivery for passengers, buy new planes in days ahead
- Arif Habib Group secured 75 percent stake in PIA last month for $482 million after several rounds of bidding
ISLAMABAD: The new owner of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Thursday that the airline was in talks with aerospace manufacturer Boeing as he vowed to expand its current fleet and ensure service revamp as the government formally concluded its privatization process.
A Pakistani consortium led by the Arif Habib Group secured a 75 percent stake in the PIA last month for Rs135 billion ($482 million) after several rounds of bidding, valuing the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million). Pakistan had previously attempted to reform the debt-ridden airline, which had accumulated more than $2.8 billion in financial losses over the years.
The Pakistani government and the Arif Habib Consortium signed the transaction documents for the PIA’s privatization during a televised ceremony in Islamabad. The event was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, senior cabinet members and Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
“The money that will go into the airline will improve its services, new planes will be bought and you will see a big difference very soon,” Arif Habib, the chairman of the consortium, said.
“We have held a very extensive meeting with Boeing, we are holding a meeting with Airbus tomorrow (Friday). We are also exploring other options,” he added.
Habib vowed the airline will meet the prime minister’s expectations as far as the PIA’s performance is concerned, saying the government’s patronage would be “critical.”
Sharif congratulated the nation on the signing of the transaction documents, hoping Habib and his team would ensure PIA improves its performance, punctuality, cabin service and ground service in the days to come.
Once considered among Asia’s leading carriers, PIA struggled with chronic mismanagement, political interference, overstaffing, mounting debt and operational issues that led to a 2020 ban on flights to the European Union, UK and the US after a pilot licensing scandal. The EU and the UK lifted the bans, providing fresh momentum to the carrier.
In an exclusive interview to Arab News last month, Habib said PIA’s new management plans to more than triple its fleet to 64 aircraft from the existing 19 in up to eight years.
He also said the consortium may look to buy the government’s remaining 25 percent stake and offer part of it to a “strategic investor,” preferably a foreign airline, to make PIA more competitive.
