Pakistan futsal teams make history with first-ever international wins
Pakistan’s futsal breakthrough continued at the SAFF Championship in Thailand as the men’s team secured their first-ever international win on Friday, a day after the women recorded Pakistan’s maiden futsal victory.
In the men’s event, Pakistan came back from a 2–0 deficit to beat Bhutan 4–2 at the Hua Mak Indoor Arena in Bangkok, registering their first international victory in futsal.
Bhutan’s Dawa Shering put his side ahead with two quick goals early on, but Pakistan responded through Hassan Zafar, who scored in the 28th minute to cut the deficit.
Asif Ahmed Chaudhry levelled the match in the 32nd minute before Adnan Ashfaq struck in the 34th and 35th minutes to complete the turnaround and seal the win.
Pakistan’s starting five for the match featured Tahir Khan, Hassaan Zafar, Humza Nusrat, Nisar Hussain and Salar Khan, with Abdul Wadud, Humza Khan, Asif Ahmad, Adnan Ashfaq, Ali Agha, Abdul Hannan, Zaid Khan, Muhammad Elham and Rajab Ali listed among the substitutes.
Pakistan had opened the tournament with a 7–1 defeat to the Maldives in their first match.
In the women’s event, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka 3–2 on Thursday, with Azwa Chaudhry scoring a hat-trick to deliver the women’s team’s first-ever international futsal win.
Reacting to the landmark results, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) said on Instagram that Pakistan’s women’s and men’s futsal teams had “created history by winning their first-ever international matches at SAFF Futsal 2026”.
The PFF said the teams delivered the wins “despite a lack of Futsal infrastructure in the country and the challenges”, adding that Pakistan women beat Sri Lanka 3–2 while the men’s team “came from behind to win against Bhutan 4-2”.
PFF President Mohsen Gilani credited the achievement to the resilience and efforts of the coaches and players, saying: “our players and coaches have made history and we will build on this foundation to take Futsal to greater heights and make Pakistan a force in Futsal”.
The federation also said referees and coaches from Pakistan “completed their courses for Futsal during the SAFF Championship”.
The women’s team returns to face the Maldives today at 6:00pm Pakistan time, while the men’s team will play Sri Lanka in their next match on January 18.
