DHAKA (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan reached the final of the SAFF Championship for the first time on Saturday, beating hosts Bangladesh 1-0 in the semi-final at the National Stadium in Dhaka.
Abdul Samad Arshad, a Denmark-based forward, scored the winner in the 86th minute after a goalless first half.
Pakistan will play defending champions India in the final on Tuesday, November 17. India beat Bhutan 2-1 in the first semi-final earlier on Saturday.
The win ends a long run of near misses. Pakistan had reached the last four four times before, in 1997, 2003, 2005, and 2018, and lost each time. Bangladesh had never lost to Pakistan in Dhaka, winning three and drawing two of the five earlier meetings there, and won 1-0 when the sides last met in 2018.
Coach Nolberto Solano’s side had an uneven group stage. They came back from 3-0 down to lose 3-2 to India, then beat the Maldives 3-0.
Five overseas-based players joined the squad for the knockout round after missing the group matches, which fell outside the FIFA international window: captain Abdullah Iqbal, Easah Suliman, Adil Nabi, Arshad, and Ali Akbar Khan. Iqbal and Suliman anchored a defence that held out against long spells of Bangladesh pressure.
Bangladesh, captained by Sheffield United midfielder Hamza Choudhury and coached by Thomas Dooley, had topped Group A without conceding a goal, beating Bhutan 1-0 and Sri Lanka 4-0. They were chasing their first final since 2005.
The video assistant referee is being used at the SAFF Championship for the first time, for the semi-finals and the final.
The result comes despite a difficult few years at home. Pakistan has had no top-flight domestic league since the 2018-19 season and has been suspended by FIFA several times since 2017, most recently until March 2025.
It also caps a strong day for Pakistan’s footballers. Earlier on Saturday, the under-17 side beat hosts Laos 3-0 to stay in the race for the AFC U17 Asian Cup.
