ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan beat Pakistan 3-0 when the two sides met in the second round of the FIFA football World Cup qualifiers in Dushanbe on Tuesday, putting an end to a disappointing campaign by the green shirts.
The South Asian team lost to the Saudi football team 4-0 in the first leg of the qualifying matches when they faced off in Al Ahsa in November 2023. Later, Pakistan suffered another setback in round one of the qualifiers when they lost 6-1 to Tajikistan in Islamabad days after losing to Saudi Arabia.
On June 6, Saudi Arabia beat Pakistan 3-0 at the Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad in second round of the qualifiers.
“Tajikistan has defeated Pakistan 3-0 in Pakistan’s last away match,” the PFF said in a statement.
Tajik footballer Mabateshoev Shervoni drew first blood in the 35th minute of the match when he netted a goal. Safarov Manuche made it 2-0 for Tajikistan in the 65th minute before Vahdat Hanonov made all chances of a Pakistan comeback futile in the 70th minute by netting a third.
Pakistan are bottom-placed in Group G of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and already out of the race to qualify for the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifying matches after losing four matches on the trot.
Apart from Saudi Arabia, the other two teams with Pakistan in Group G are Jordan and Tajikistan. In the second round of the qualifiers, a total of 36 football squads have been split into nine groups with four teams each. The winners and runners-up from each group would go through to the third round.
Pakistan’s football team arrived in Tajikistan via a special air force flight on Tuesday afternoon due to flight delays, hours before the match was due to begin.
The team’s earlier scheduled flight for Tajikistan was halted “due to technical issues,” the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) had said on Monday.
Pakistan squad:
Goalkeepers: Yousuf Butt (D), Saqib Hanif and Hassan Ali
Defenders: Abdullah Iqbal (D), Mohammad Fazal (D), Haseeb Khan, Rao Omer Hayat, Mamoon Moosa, Mohammad Saddam, Waqar Ihtisham, Moin Ahmed and Abdul Rehman
Midfielders: Rahis Nabi (D), Otis Khan (D), Ali Uzair, Umair Ali, Toqeer ul Hassan, Alamgir Ghazi and Ali Zafar
Forwards: Imran Kayani (D), McKeal Abdulah, Fareedulah, Adeel Younas and Shayak Dost
