India race to 3-0 lead over Pakistan in SAFF Championship opener as Bhat scores twice
Suhail Ahmad Bhat scored twice in the first 20 minutes and Manglenthang Kipgen added a third as defending champions India took a commanding 3-0 lead over Pakistan in their SAFF Championship 2026 opener in Dhaka.
India made a flying start to their SAFF Championship title defence on Thursday, racing into a 3-0 lead over Pakistan in the Group B opener at the National Stadium in Dhaka, with Suhail Ahmad Bhat scoring twice inside the first 20 minutes.
The defending champions, chasing a record-extending tenth SAFF title, needed only 13 minutes to break the deadlock. Muhammed Suhail burst down the left wing and squared the ball across the face of goal, where Bhat timed his run to perfection and tapped home from close range.
Bhat doubled the lead six minutes later with a finish of real quality. Himanshu Suryavanshi picked out the Mohun Bagan forward with a weighted through ball from midfield, and Bhat took the pass in his stride inside the penalty area before curling a composed shot past the diving goalkeeper into the far bottom corner.
Manglenthang Kipgen made it three in the 32nd minute, capping a dominant first half for the Blue Tigers, who had already seen the midfielder go close in the opening minutes when his half-volley from Bhat's lay-off flew over the crossbar.
Pakistan's best chance of the half came from the penalty spot in the 35th minute, but Shayak Dost could not convert, and the miss summed up a difficult opening 45 minutes for a side ranked 197th in the world, 59 places below their opponents.
The second half began in the same pattern, and Bhat came within inches of a hat-trick in the 50th minute, pulling a golden chance just wide of the target with the goal at his mercy. India remained 3-0 ahead as the match moved past the hour mark.
India have travelled to Dhaka with a second-string squad for this tournament, led by coach Naushad Moosa, with several first-choice players rested. Even so, the gulf in quality and experience was clear from the opening exchanges, as India controlled possession and repeatedly opened up the Pakistan defence.
The build-up to the match had been far from smooth for the champions. The players were left without hotel rooms for four hours after arriving in Dhaka and only settled in late on Monday night, a disruption that made little difference once the football began.
The rivalry between the two neighbours has been one-sided in recent years. India have won 16 of the 29 meetings between the sides, with Pakistan winning four and nine ending in draws. The last encounter, in the 2023 SAFF Championship in Bengaluru, ended in a 4-0 win for India, with Sunil Chhetri scoring a hat-trick and Udanta Singh adding the fourth.
This is the 15th edition of the SAFF Championship, running from 5 to 17 November with all six teams based in Dhaka. India share Group B with Pakistan and the Maldives, while hosts Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal contest the other group. A win in the opener would put India top of their group ahead of their meeting with the Maldives, while Pakistan will look to recover when they face the Maldives on Sunday, 8 November.
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