Pakistan U-15s Smash Cook Islands 7-1, Reach Tier F Final

Pakistan's under-15 footballers have produced the most emphatic statement of their young international lives. The Shaheens thrashed the Cook Islands 7-1 at the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival 2026 in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday, booking a place in the Tier F final against Djibouti on Friday, 30 October.

It is a remarkable turnaround for a team that started this tournament with three straight defeats and no points. Six days after losing their opening match to Gambia, Pakistan's teenagers are one win away from lifting a tier trophy at a FIFA event — the first Pakistani team ever to play, let alone win, at a FIFA World Cup stage.

The final against Djibouti kicked off at 1:45pm Pakistan time on Friday at Pitch 3B of the Hovsan Competition Complex. At the time of writing, no confirmed result from the final had appeared in published reports, so this post covers the semi-final rout that got Pakistan there — and what a final would mean for this group.

How the 7-1 rout unfolded

Pakistan made a flying start. Ilhan Ali opened the scoring in only the second minute, and although the Cook Islands hit back almost immediately from a set-piece, the Shaheens never looked back.

Defender Muhammad Alam restored the lead in the 11th minute with a long-range strike. Then stand-in captain Kaleemullah Khan — the breakout star of this tournament — struck twice in quick succession, in the 12th and 15th minutes, to put Pakistan 4-1 up at half-time.

The second half brought no relief for the Cook Islands. Danish Masih extended the lead in the 27th minute, Bakshi Hamal Khan added a sixth in the 37th minute, and Zain-ul-Abideen completed the seven-goal haul in the 39th minute of a 40-minute match.

Minute	Scorer	Score at the time
2'	Ilhan Ali	Pakistan 1-0
Early	Cook Islands (set-piece)	1-1
11'	Muhammad Alam	Pakistan 2-1
12'	Kaleemullah Khan	Pakistan 3-1
15'	Kaleemullah Khan	Pakistan 4-1
27'	Danish Masih	Pakistan 5-1
37'	Bakshi Hamal Khan	Pakistan 6-1
39'	Zain-ul-Abideen	Pakistan 7-1

The scoreline barely flatters Pakistan. Seven different phases of attacking play produced seven goals, and the goals were shared around: a defender, a captain, a midfielder and three more finishers all got on the scoresheet. That spread matters. This is no longer a one-boy team, even if one boy has defined the tournament.

Kaleemullah: the captain carrying a campaign

If Pakistan's campaign has a face, it is Kaleemullah Khan. The stand-in captain has scored in almost every phase of the tournament: both of Pakistan's goals in the group-stage draws with Jordan and Nigeria, four goals in the 6-1 demolition of Tonga, the opener in the 5-0 win over the Bahamas, and now two more against the Cook Islands.

His Tonga performance alone would have made him a story — a four-goal haul in Pakistan's first-ever win on a FIFA World Cup stage, including two penalties and two headers. But what has impressed most in Baku is his consistency. When Pakistan were losing, he scored. When Pakistan were drawing, he scored. When Pakistan started winning, he kept scoring.

Captains at under-15 level are rarely asked to carry a team through a week-long international festival. Kaleemullah has done it while playing in an 8-a-side format — two 20-minute halves, rolling substitutions, kick-ins instead of throw-ins — that rewards sharp movement and quick finishing, both of which he has in abundance.

From three defeats to a final: the road to Baku's last day

Pakistan's journey in Baku is a story of a team learning in public. It began badly: a 4-2 defeat to Gambia on 24 October, a narrow 1-0 loss to South Sudan, and a 4-0 defeat to Cyprus the following day. Three games, three defeats, no points.

Then came the turn. Consecutive 1-1 draws against Jordan and Nigeria on Monday earned Pakistan their first two points and, crucially, kept belief alive. In a format where no team is eliminated — sides are placed into six performance tiers after the group stage, with a winner crowned in each tier — Pakistan's recovery put them into Tier F with something still to play for.

Wednesday brought history: a 6-1 win over Tonga, Pakistan's first-ever victory on a FIFA World Cup stage, with Kaleemullah scoring four. Thursday brought a setback: a goalless draw with Nepal, lost 4-3 on penalties. But the Shaheens responded the way good teams do — by winning the next match, and winning it big.

The 5-0 thrashing of the Bahamas on Thursday, with goals from Kaleemullah, Shiraz, Maqbool and Bakshi Hamal, set up the Cook Islands semi-final. Less than a day later, Pakistan produced an even bigger scoreline. Two wins, 12 goals, one conceded, in the space of about 24 hours: that is the form of a team peaking at exactly the right moment.

What the Tier F final means

Let us be clear about what this final is — and is not. The FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival is the inaugural edition of a new FIFA youth event, held in Baku from 24 to 30 October with 191 teams from six confederations. Matches are 8-a-side, and the tier system means every team keeps playing after the group stage. Tier F is the lowest tier, for the bottom-ranked teams from the groups.

None of that diminishes what Pakistan have done. This is a country whose senior team has never played at a World Cup, whose football has spent years fighting suspensions, funding crises and a lack of competitive matches. For a group of 14- and 15-year-olds to travel to Baku, take three heavy defeats, and still finish the week contesting a final is a genuine achievement — and a sign that the talent pipeline, long talked about, may finally be producing players.

It also matters for what comes next. Pakistan's senior team, under head coach Nolberto Solano, opened a training camp in Islamabad on 26 October ahead of the SAFF Championship in Dhaka from 4 to 17 November, where Pakistan open against India on 5 November before facing the Maldives on 8 November. The under-15s' run in Baku is the feel-good story feeding into that build-up — proof, at youth level at least, that Pakistan can compete, score goals and win matches on a FIFA stage.

Djibouti stand in the way

Djibouti, Pakistan's final opponents, will not be pushovers simply because Pakistan scored seven in the semi-final. Finals at this age level are often decided by who handles the occasion, not who has the better scoreline behind them. Pakistan's teenagers have already handled a penalty shootout defeat, a comeback win and a goal rush in the space of a week — they have seen most of what youth football can throw at them.

Three things will decide the final. First, the fast start: Pakistan have scored early in both of their last two wins, and an early goal settles young nerves. Second, Kaleemullah's supply line: the Cook Islands game showed Pakistan can score without him dominating, but he remains the player opponents plan for. Third, discipline at the back: the one blemish on the semi-final was conceding from a set-piece, and finals punish exactly those lapses.

Whatever the result against Djibouti, this much is already true: Pakistan's under-15s arrived in Baku as debutants and will leave as finalists. They have scored 18 goals in their last three wins — six against Tonga, five against the Bahamas, seven against the Cook Islands — plus the draws that steadied the ship. For a team that started with three defeats, that is not just a recovery. It is a statement.

Pakistan at Baku 2026 — results so far

• 24 Oct: Lost 4-2 to Gambia (group stage)
• 25 Oct: Lost 1-0 to South Sudan; lost 4-0 to Cyprus (group stage)
• 26 Oct: Drew 1-1 with Jordan; drew 1-1 with Nigeria (group stage)
• 28 Oct: Beat Tonga 6-1; lost 4-3 on penalties to Nepal after 0-0 (Tier F)
• 29 Oct: Beat Bahamas 5-0; beat Cook Islands 7-1 (Tier F)
• 30 Oct: Tier F final vs Djibouti, 1:45pm PKT, Pitch 3B, Hovsan Competition Complex

Images: illustrative youth football photos via Pexels (free licence) — not photos from the Baku matches. Sources: Geo Super, FootballPakistan.com (FPDC), The Tribune International. The final result had not been confirmed in published reports at the time of writing.