India vs Pakistan SAFF Championship 2026: time, squad, how to watch
Pakistan open the SAFF Championship against India in Dhaka on Thursday at 2:30 PM PKT. Kick-off time, the squad, who is missing and the head-to-head record.
Pakistan’s footballers open the SAFF Championship 2026 against India on Thursday, 5 November, at the National Stadium in Dhaka. Kick-off is at 2:30 PM Pakistan time (3 PM in India), and it is the first match of the tournament.
It is the first senior India-Pakistan football match since the 2023 edition in Bengaluru, which India won 4-0 with a Sunil Chhetri hat-trick. Pakistan’s coach Nolberto Solano says this side is different, and India’s coach agrees.
Fixtures and format
- Group B: Pakistan, India, Maldives. Pakistan play India on 5 November and the Maldives on 8 November.
- Group A: hosts Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
- The top two in each group reach the semi-finals on 14 November. The final is on 17 November.
- Nepal are missing the tournament for the first time because of a suspension.
With only three teams in the group, beating the Maldives may be enough for Pakistan, but a result against India would take the pressure off.
Pakistan’s squad and who is missing
The Pakistan Football Federation named its squad on Wednesday, a day after most of the players had already flown to Bangladesh. Solano’s assistants are Titus Bramble and Walid Javaid.
The big problem is timing. The tournament is outside FIFA’s international window, so overseas clubs do not have to release players. Captain Abdullah Iqbal, defender Easah Suliman and wingers Abdul Samad Arshad and Ali Akbar Khan are in the squad but will only join if Pakistan reach the semi-finals. Otis Khan and Harun Hamid are unavailable, and Mohammed Fazal, Abdullah Shah and Ali Agha are out with injury or fitness problems.
That puts more weight on the home-based players and on younger names. Forward Umar Nawaz, a teenager playing in Finland, is the one Indian previews are pointing to. England-born Mckeal Abdullah is back in the squad, and Muhammad Junaid and Najeebullah have their first senior call-ups.
Solano spoke in Islamabad on Monday evening. “We have to treat every match as a final,” he said. “There are no excuses. We believe in our players.” His target is the semi-finals.
What India are bringing
India are the defending champions and have won the title nine times. They are ranked 138th in the world; Pakistan are 197th. But India have sent a young second-string side under Naushad Moosa, because their senior team under Khalid Jamil is in New Zealand for two friendlies.
“We are going to face a different Pakistan team compared to the one we faced in the last SAFF Championship,” Moosa said. He added that his focus is on playing well, not on defending the title.
Head-to-head
The two sides have met 29 times in senior internationals. India have won 16, Pakistan 4, and 9 have been draws.
How to watch
In India the match streams free on the VETO app. We could not confirm a Pakistani TV or streaming partner by Wednesday evening; the Pakistan Football Federation’s official accounts are the place to check before kick-off. We will report the result on Thursday.
