Gambia Fight Back to Beat Pakistan U-15s 4-2 in FIFA Debut

Pakistan's first-ever match at a FIFA World Cup ended in heartbreak in Baku on Saturday — but it began with a dream. The Under-15 Shaheens raced into a 2-0 lead over Gambia in their historic FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival opener, scored the first two goals of their country's FIFA story, and then watched a strong, experienced Gambian side fight back to win 4-2. It was, in the truest sense, a game of two halves: a first half that announced Pakistan on the world stage, and a second half that showed exactly how much there is still to learn at this level.

Pakistan's FIFA debut in Baku was a game of two halves: a dream 2-0 start, then a Gambian comeback. (Illustrative photo: Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY)

A dream start: Hamza writes the first line of history

It took just five minutes for Pakistan to make history twice over. Ameer Hamza collected the ball on the right, near the halfway line, drove at the Gambian defence and unleashed a fierce strike past the goalkeeper. That was not just Pakistan's first goal of the tournament — it was the first goal ever scored by a Pakistani team at a FIFA event, at any age level, and it was a goal worthy of the occasion: direct, brave and brilliantly struck.

Hamza was not finished. He was involved again as Pakistan doubled their lead, winning a tackle that sent the ball towards Baxi Hamal Khan. Driving forward from the left, Baxi fired a superb shot into the top corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance. At 2-0, Pakistan were not just competing at a FIFA tournament — they were leading one, and playing with the kind of confidence that suggested they belonged there.

For Pakistani football fans, those opening minutes will be remembered long after the final score fades. Until Saturday afternoon, a Pakistani child dreaming of a World Cup had no Pakistani example to point to. From the fifth minute in Baku, they do: Ameer Hamza, running from near halfway, scoring Pakistan's first FIFA goal. Whatever else this week brings, that moment is now part of the country's sporting history.

Gambia pull one back before the break

Football, though, is rarely that kind. Gambia, to their credit, did not panic at 2-0 down. They steadied themselves, worked their way back into the contest, and pulled a goal back before half-time. At 2-1, the whole complexion of the match changed. Pakistan still led, but the cushion was gone, the momentum had shifted, and the second half — just 20 minutes long in this eight-a-side format — suddenly looked like a very different test.

That is the cruel arithmetic of the festival format. Matches here are played eight-a-side, in two 20-minute halves, on a smaller pitch of 68 metres by 47 metres with full-size goals. There is no time to sit on a lead, no long second half in which to regroup, and no room for a slow start after the break. A two-goal lead in a 40-minute game is precious — and fragile. Pakistan were about to learn just how fragile.

The second-half turnaround

Gambia equalised early after the restart, when the ball slipped past Pakistan goalkeeper Shayan. At 2-2, the game was level — and the pressure was now firmly on the young Shaheens. Gambia increased the pressure in the second half, forcing Pakistan to defend deep during the early exchanges, and for a spell the match looked like it might slip away completely.

To Pakistan's credit, they did not fold. Gradually, the Shaheens found their composure again, and Kaleemullah tested the Gambian goalkeeper on more than three occasions, forcing a series of saves. For a few minutes, it felt as though Pakistan might regain the lead they had held so thrillingly in the first half.

Instead, the decisive moment went the other way. Just as Pakistan looked to be regaining their footing, a swift Gambian counter-attack saw the ball fall to a Gambian player, whose ferocious left-footed strike was rifled into the corner of the net to put his side ahead at 3-2. Gambia then added a fourth with a curling effort into the top corner, completing a dramatic turnaround and sealing a 4-2 win.

Pakistan created chances of their own in the second half, but Gambia's counter-attacking proved decisive. (Illustrative photo: Beatrice Murch, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY)

What the result does — and does not — mean

First, the honest part: this was a defeat, and a painful one, because Pakistan had the game in their hands at 2-0. Losing from that position will sting, and it should — it shows these young players care, and that they believed they could win. Nobody should pretend otherwise.

But second, the context matters just as much, and it is the reason no Pakistani fan should despair tonight. This festival is not a knockout tournament. It is a development event, deliberately designed so that no team goes home early. Pakistan's qualification results will place them into one of six performance tiers for a second stage of four or five more matches, with the Tier A winner crowned the overall champion and the tier finals played at Baku Crystal Hall on October 30. One defeat, however painful, does not end Pakistan's tournament — it shapes which tier they enter and who they face next.

Third, the performance itself offered real encouragement. Pakistan scored the first two goals of the match, both of them outstanding strikes. They created chances in the second half when the game was slipping away, with Kaleemullah repeatedly testing the Gambian goalkeeper. They showed, for long spells, that they can compete at this level — against unfamiliar opposition, in an unfamiliar format, thousands of miles from home, in their very first FIFA match. That is not a small thing.

What they must learn, quickly, is game management in a 40-minute format. Protecting a lead, surviving a momentum swing, and staying composed when the opposition press after half-time — those are the lessons of Saturday afternoon, and they are exactly the kind of lessons a tournament like this exists to teach. The good news is that Pakistan do not have to wait long to put them into practice.

What comes next: a brutal double-header on Sunday

Pakistan's qualification stage is relentlessly compressed: five matches in three days. There is no time to dwell on the Gambia defeat, because Sunday brings two more internationals, and Monday brings two more after that. Here is the remaining group schedule, all times in Pakistan Standard Time (PKT):

Date	Opponent	Time (PKT)
October 25	South Sudan	1:45pm
October 25	Cyprus	8:30pm
October 26	Jordan	12:30pm
October 26	Nigeria	7:15pm

That schedule tests more than football ability. Recovery, squad rotation, sleep, nutrition and mentality all become part of the challenge — which is precisely why the experience is so valuable. Few 14-year-olds anywhere in the world will ever play five internationals in 72 hours. Every one of these young Shaheens will come home tougher for it, win or lose.

Pakistan are in Group AD alongside Gambia, South Sudan, Cyprus, Jordan and Nigeria. The group results will decide their tier for the second stage — and the higher the tier, the stronger the opposition and the bigger the test. Sunday's double-header, against South Sudan in the afternoon and Cyprus in the evening, is therefore not just about bouncing back from defeat. It is about building a position in the group that earns Pakistan the toughest, most valuable second-stage matches possible.

The bigger picture: why this week still matters

Step back from the 4-2 scoreline for a moment, and the scale of what happened in Baku on Saturday is still extraordinary. A total of 191 FIFA member associations are taking part in this inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival, split into 32 groups, with nearly 1,000 matches played across six matchdays, mostly at Baku's Hovsan Competition Complex. More than 3,000 young players, coaches and officials are involved. Pakistan are in on the ground floor of something FIFA clearly intends to grow — the first edition is for boys' teams, with a girls' edition planned for 2027 and both tournaments set to become annual events from 2028.

The format itself tells you what FIFA wants from this event. Smaller sides, shorter halves, smaller pitches, rolling substitutions, and a tier system that keeps every team playing until the final matchday — all of it is designed to maximise touches, decisions and match experience for players born in 2011 or 2012. FIFA's thinking, as its Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger has put it, is that talent exists everywhere, but young players do not always get the same opportunities to test themselves internationally. This tournament exists to close that gap.

For Pakistan, that is the real prize. The domestic chain is finally functioning: a National U-17 Championship fed a 21-player training camp in Lahore, which fed a 14-player squad finalised by head coach Ihsanullah Khan, which flew out of Islamabad on October 20 and is now playing FIFA football in Baku. That chain — from local pitches to the world stage — is exactly what a functioning football system looks like, and it has been missing for far too long.

Five matches in three days: Pakistan's group stage is a test of recovery as much as football. (Illustrative photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY)

The verdict: proud, but with lessons to learn

So how should Pakistani fans feel tonight? Proud, first of all. Proud that 14 teenagers from their country walked out at a FIFA tournament, scored two wonderful goals, and led a match at a World Cup event — the first Pakistani team ever to do so. Ameer Hamza's fifth-minute strike and Baxi Hamal Khan's top-corner finish are moments that will live in Pakistani football history, whatever happens next in Baku.

Disappointed, too — and honestly so. A 2-0 lead should have been protected better, the second-half momentum swing should have been managed better, and the counter-attack that made it 3-2 should have been stopped. Those are fair criticisms, and they are the criticisms of a team that is good enough to win games like this, not of a team that was out of its depth.

And, above all, still watching. Because this story is not over. Sunday brings South Sudan and Cyprus, Monday brings Jordan and Nigeria, and after that comes a second stage of four or five more matches against international opposition. The score against Gambia is the first line of the story, not the last — and the way these young Shaheens respond to their first FIFA defeat will tell us more about them than the defeat itself.

Follow the week. Back the team. And remember the fifth minute in Baku, when Pakistan led at a FIFA World Cup for the very first time.

Related reading: our matchday preview — Pakistan's First FIFA Match Today: U-15s vs Gambia.

Sources: PPA Islamabad match report (A Game of Two Halves as Pakistan Make Historic FIFA U-15 World Cup Debut, October 24, 2026) and Pakistan TV, corroborating the goal sequence and 4-2 turnaround; WE News English, AsiaOne and Daily Metro Time for the Group AD schedule and tournament format; The News and A-Sports for the 14-player squad and PFF confirmation. Photos: Wikimedia Commons (Soccer 2014 by Michael Barera, CC BY; Fútbol by Beatrice Murch, CC BY; Deportes fútbol, CC BY), used illustratively — these are not photographs of the Pakistan squad or of the Gambia match. Gambian scorers and goal times beyond the reported sequence were not published in the match reports used, so none are stated here.