Suhail Ahmad Bhat scores brace as India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship

The India football team opened their SAFF Championship 2026 campaign with a 3-2 win over arch-rivals Pakistan. Suhail Ahmad Bhat scored a brace in the 14th and 20th minute while Manglenthang Kipgen added the third in the 32nd minute.

While India could not add to their tally in the second half, Pakistan rallied after the 90th minute to score twice, with Najeeb Ullah striking in the 91st minute and Alamgir Ghazi adding another in the 94th minute. If Shayak Dost had converted a penalty in the first half, Pakistan would have tied the game up but the Blue Tigers escaped by the skin of their teeth.

This is a second string Indian team, with just 18 players available with the main team not taking part in the tournament in view of the away international friendly matches against New Zealand, on November 12 and 15 in Auckland and Christchurch, respectively.

There is also the issue of the reluctance of the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs to release players in the midst of the ongoing season, as Thursday's match against Pakistan falls on a date outside the FIFA international window (November 9-17).

While announcing the squad for the tournament, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had said that 18 players will travel to Dhaka on November 3 from Kolkata, while the remaining 10 will join the group over the subsequent days. Once the FIFA international window starts on November 9, the ISL clubs will release their players and the squad will have full strength of 28.

The Blue Tigers next play against Maldives on November 11 in their second Group B match in the six-team tournament to be played at the National Stadium in Dhaka. Hosts Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan are placed in Group A.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for November 14. The final will be played on November 17. The Indian team is under the charge of U-23 national team head coach Naushad Moosa. Bibiano Fernandes, who recently coached the India U-15 men's team at the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan, is the assistant coach.

India have won the regional tournament nine times out of the 14 earlier editions since 1993, while finishing runner-up four times and in the third place once. Pakistan's best performance in the tournament has been a third place finish in 1997.

Pakistan have come into the tournament after losing twice and drawing once in the ASEAN Cup Group B matches. They lost to Thailand (0-4) and Vietnam (2-4), and drew against Philippines (2-2). But under former Peruvian international Nolberto Solano, who became head coach last year, Pakistan have improved with two wins and a draw in their last five matches.