Pakistan U-15 thrash Tonga 6-1 to record first-ever win on the FIFA World Cup stage
FILE PHOTO: Youth football in Baku. This is a file photograph and is not the Pakistan-Tonga match and not the Hovsan venue.
BAKU — Pakistan’s under-15 football team has recorded its first U-15 World Cup win, thrashing Tonga 6-1 at the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku. It is a landmark result for Pakistan football: no Pakistani team had ever won a match on a FIFA World Cup stage before, and the Shaheens did it the hard way, coming from behind to win in style.
An early setback, then total control
Pakistan fell behind as early as the sixth minute, when Tonga were awarded a penalty against the run of play and converted it. The lead lasted barely a minute. Kaleemullah levelled from the penalty spot in the seventh minute, then put Pakistan ahead in the 13th, heading home a cross from the right. He completed his hat-trick with another penalty in first-half stoppage time.
The second half brought more of the same. Kaleemullah added his fourth after the break, rising above the defence at the far post to head home a kick-in from the left. Maqbool then rifled in the fifth with a strike from distance, and Mustafa finished a move down the left with a composed finish to make it 6-1. Pakistan could easily have scored more; the chances kept coming, and Tonga were pinned back for long stretches.
A comeback after a difficult start
The win looks even better against the start Pakistan made to the tournament. The Shaheens lost their opener 4-2 to Gambia, then went down 1-0 to South Sudan and 4-0 to Cyprus. They steadied themselves with back-to-back 1-1 draws against Jordan and Nigeria — Kaleemullah scored in both games — and the Tonga rout was the continuation of that recovery. Pakistan Football Federation president Syed Mohsen Gilani, who watched the match, congratulated the players on becoming the first Pakistani team to win on the FIFA World Cup stage.
A shootout defeat on the same day
There was a sting in the tail on the same day. Pakistan’s next match, against Nepal, finished goalless in regulation time, and Nepal won the penalty shootout 4-3 after a missed Pakistan spot-kick. So the day brought both a historic win and a hard defeat. Pakistan return to action against the Bahamas on Thursday.
Why this tournament matters
This is the first edition of the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival, staged in Baku with teams from 189 member associations taking part. Most matches are played at the Hovsan Competition Complex, games are eight-a-side with two 20-minute halves, and players born in 2011 or 2012 are eligible. For Pakistan, the tournament is about more than one result: it is the kind of international exposure for young footballers that the country’s game has lacked for years, and the Tonga win is the first tangible proof of what that exposure can produce.
