SAFF Championship 2026: Pakistan beats Maldives in first win in tournament after eight years

File photo: Pakistan lost its opening match of the tournament 2-3 to India despite a late surge, which saw it find the net twice in second-half stoppage time. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Najeeb Ullah scored a brace as Pakistan thumped Maldives 3-0 in their SAFF Championship group-stage match at the National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Sunday.

England-born forward McKeal Abdullah initially scored the other goal, the opening one of the contest and his first-ever strike for Pakistan.

It was Pakistan’s first win in the SAFF Championship in over eight years. It’s last victory was against Bhutan on September 8, 2018.

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Pakistan lost its opening match of the tournament 2-3 to India despite a late surge, which saw it find the net twice in second-half stoppage time. But under Peruvian legend Nolberto Solano, it has looked in promising form, winning two matches in the ASEAN Cup and now helped the team conjure a memorable victory in the SAFF Championship.

Nolbeto’s men have now completed their group-stage matches in the SAFF Championship, and anything but a draw in the match between India and Maldives will see Pakistan qualify for the knockouts, something it last did in 2018.