Pakistan suffer humiliating defeat to Tajikistan in FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers

The Pakistan football team on Tuesday suffered a humiliating 1-6 defeat against Tajikistan in their second match of the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

During the match played at Islamabad’s Jinnah Stadium, Tajikistan started brightly and managed to score early in the game with Kamolov scoring for the visitors thanks to a small deflection from Abdullah Iqbal.

The visitors soon doubled their lead with another strike from outside the box, Soirov making it impossible for Pakistan’s Yusuf Butt to stop the ball finding the net.

Pakistan responded to Tajikistan’s lead in the 21st minute, Rahis Nabi scoring with his left foot, giving the hosts and their fans the hope they needed to get back into the game.

The green shirts did not have a good day in terms of team structure and movement off the ball as their midfield was non-existent throughout the first half.

Taking advantage of their midfielder’s absence, Tajikistan took advantage of the same gaps and found the net in the 26th minute with another away goal.

The problems didn’t stop for the home side as the visitors grabbed another goal just before the half-time whistle to extend their lead to three goals and put themselves in a position of dominance.

Pakistan continued to suffer in the second half, they failed to hold onto the ball for most of the time and the players struggled to hold onto it and slow down the pace of the game as every touch was towards goal, making it impossible. for the group to have a proper structure.

In the 65th minute, the Men in Green conceded another goal, another from the edge of the box as they failed to reduce the deficit on their penalty kick. The visitors scored another goal just before the final whistle.

The match ended 1-6 with Tajikistan emerging victorious after a one sided game of football, they did not look positive throughout the match apart from Nabi’s first half stunner.

Earlier, Pakistan suffered a 4-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia in their first match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.