India began the defence of their SAFF Championship crown with a 3-2 win over Pakistan in the tournament opener at the National Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday, but the defending champions were made to survive a dramatic late fightback before the final whistle.
Suhail Bhat scored twice inside the opening 20 minutes and Manglenthang Kipgen added a third before half time, giving India a commanding 3-0 lead at the break. Pakistan, who had missed a penalty in the first half, then scored twice in stoppage time to set up a tense finish — only for India to hold on for all three points in their Group B opener. Our tournament opener preview had warned that there would be no gentle start for Pakistan, and so it proved.
Bhat’s first-half brace puts India in control
India needed only 13 minutes to open the scoring. A flowing move down the left saw Muhammad Suhail drive to the byline and square the ball across the face of goal, where Suhail Bhat timed his run perfectly to tap home from close range. It was the breakthrough India’s early pressure deserved, and the young forward was not finished.
Six minutes later, Bhat had his second. Himanshu Suryavanshi picked up the ball in midfield and played a pinpoint through ball behind the Pakistan defence. Bhat controlled it inside the penalty area, opened up his body and curled a calm finish into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0. Pakistan had actually threatened first, with Ali Raza driving into the Indian box in the fifth minute before Bijoy Varghese produced a perfectly timed recovery tackle, but once India found their rhythm the goals followed quickly.
Kipgen makes it three — and Pakistan’s penalty lifeline goes begging
The third goal arrived in the 32nd minute and it was a ruthless finish from Manglenthang Kipgen, who had already gone close with a half-volley in the opening two minutes. This time he made no mistake, putting India 3-0 up and in total control of the Group B opener.
Pakistan were handed a lifeline just two minutes later. A miscued clearance from Bijoy allowed Khattak to pounce on the loose ball, and Suryavanshi’s clumsy challenge brought him down inside the area. The referee pointed straight to the spot. But Shayak Dost, stepping up with the chance to pull one back before half time, blazed his penalty high over the bar. It was a huge let-off for India, and the defending champions went into the break three goals clear.
The second half brought more frustration for Pakistan. Bhat missed a golden chance for his hat-trick in the 50th minute, pulling his effort wide from a brilliant position, and debutant India goalkeeper Arsh Anwar produced a stunning save in the 85th minute, rushing off his line to block Nabi’s strike after a fine run down the right by Mckeal Abdullah. Pakistan were also forced into changes at the hour mark after Dost and Rehman both went down injured.
A late fightback that fell just short
For 90 minutes, the story of this match looked like a comfortable Indian win. Then stoppage time changed everything. Pakistan scored twice in the closing minutes — the live scoreboard showed 3-1 at 90+1′ and 3-2 at 90+4′ — turning a procession into a grandstand finish. The identities of the two late scorers were not confirmed in match reports at the time of publication, but the effect was clear: India, cruising for most of the evening, suddenly had to defend their lead until the very last whistle.
It was a reminder of how quickly a football match can turn, and of the spirit in this Pakistan side under head coach Nolberto Solano. Even after a first half in which they were outplayed, missed a penalty and lost players to injury, they kept pushing until the end and nearly snatched an unlikely point.
What the result means for Group B
The win gives India three points and the perfect start to their title defence. The nine-time champions, who beat Kuwait in the 2023 final in Bengaluru, are chasing a record-extending tenth SAFF title — and they are doing it with a youthful squad led by under-23 coach Naushad Moosa, with no notable senior players in the 28-man party. That makes the opening win, and the character shown in the closing minutes, all the more valuable.
For Pakistan, the defeat leaves no margin for error. In a three-team group, each side plays only two matches and the top two advance to the semi-finals. Pakistan now face the Maldives on 8 November knowing that anything less than a win would almost certainly end their tournament. The Maldives then play India on 11 November to complete the group, with the semi-finals scheduled for 14 November and the final on 17 November.
The head-to-head record still favours India heavily — 16 wins from 29 senior meetings, with Pakistan winning four and nine ending in draws — and Pakistan have not beaten their rivals since August 2014. But the closing minutes in Dhaka showed that this Pakistan team will not go quietly. If they carry that fight into the Maldives match, their campaign is far from over.
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