Pakistan reached the final of the SAFF Championship for the first time in the tournament’s 33-year history on Saturday, beating hosts Bangladesh 1-0 in the semi-final in Dhaka. Abdul Samad scored the only goal in the 86th minute, four minutes from the end of normal time, to send Nolberto Solano’s side into Tuesday’s final against defending champions India at the same ground.
The goal that ended 33 years
Bangladesh had the better of the game for long stretches. The hosts dominated possession, created the clearer chances and fielded eight expatriate players in their starting eleven under coach Thomas Dooley, with a packed home crowd behind them at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. Pakistan’s best chance of the first half fell to Samad himself in the 32nd minute, when his left-footed effort beat goalkeeper Mehedi Hasan Srabon but struck the post.
The breakthrough came from the bench. Hayan Khattak, introduced in the 74th minute for Ali Uzair, set up Samad, who created space inside the area and fired a left-footed strike past Srabon in the 86th minute. Bangladesh pushed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages, but Pakistan held on to keep a clean sheet against a side that had not lost a game in the tournament.
Four semi-finals, four exits
The win ends a wait that goes back to the tournament’s first edition in 1993. Pakistan had reached the semi-finals four times before and lost every one of them: in 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2018. Saturday was their first semi-final in eight years, and the first time they have ever gone one step further.
There is a neat symmetry in the scoreline. The last time Bangladesh reached a final was in 2005, when they beat Pakistan 1-0 in the semi-final in Karachi. Twenty-one years later, Pakistan returned the same scoreline in Dhaka and ended Bangladesh’s own wait. Bangladesh’s only title came in 2003, so the hosts will now watch the final from the stands.
A team rebuilt in 16 months
The result is the clearest sign yet of the rebuild under Solano, the former Newcastle United and Peru winger appointed in July 2025. Before the tournament he set the semi-finals as the target and told his players to treat each group game as a final. After the Maldives win he went further, saying: “Our goal is to try to reach the final.” There was already evidence of a change in September, when Pakistan came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with the Philippines at the ASEAN Cup in Bandung.
The group stage was played outside a FIFA international window, so Pakistan travelled without their overseas-based players. Five of them, Abdullah Iqbal, Easah Suliman, Ali Akbar Khan, Adil Nabi and Abdul Samad, arrived before the knockout rounds, and it was Samad, one of the arrivals, who scored the goal that made history. Pakistan Football Federation president Syed Mohsin Gilani called the achievement another landmark in the country’s footballing resurgence.
Tuesday is a rematch
The final is a repeat of the group-stage fixture, with the stakes reversed. Pakistan opened the tournament with a 3-2 defeat to India, with Suhail Ahmad Bhat scoring twice early for the holders, then bounced back with a 3-0 win over the Maldives that put a semi-final within reach. McKeal Abdullah scored from the penalty spot in the fourth minute and Najeeb Ullah Khan scored twice. Pakistan finished as Group B runners-up with three points and needed India to beat the Maldives, which they did 1-0, to reach the knockouts at all.
India booked their place in the final by beating Bhutan 2-1 in the first semi-final. The holders are chasing a record-extending 10th title and appearing in their 10th final, so Tuesday’s match pairs a side that has never won the tournament against its most successful team. The Video Assistant Referee system made its debut in the SAFF Championship in the semi-finals, and it will be in use again for the final.
It has been a full week for Pakistan sport. India stole the U19 Asia Cup final off the last ball on Saturday, hours before the football team made history in Dhaka, and the senior cricket side drew the Rawalpindi Test against Sri Lanka after 100 overs were lost. The footballers now have three days to prepare for the biggest game in the country’s history, and a first regional title is one win away. More sports news from Pakistan
