Pakistan U-15s Lose Twice: South Sudan, Cyprus in Baku

Pakistan's young Shaheens endured the hardest day of their historic FIFA journey on Sunday, October 25, 2026, losing twice in one day at the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan. First came a narrow 1-0 defeat to South Sudan in the afternoon, and then a much heavier 4-0 loss to Cyprus under the lights in the evening. After three matches in the tournament, Pakistan are still searching for their first point — but their tournament is far from over.

That last point matters more than the scorelines. This is a festival format, not a knockout. Nobody goes home after the group stage. Pakistan's five qualification matches in Group AD simply decide which of six performance tiers they enter for the second phase on October 28 and 29, with the tier finals on October 30. So Sunday hurt, and the lessons from it are real, but it did not end anything. There are still matches to play, points to chase and a tier to climb into — starting with today's closing double-header against Jordan and Nigeria.

Match one: South Sudan 1-0 Pakistan — so close, then the breakthrough

The first match of the double-header, kicking off at 1:45pm Pakistan time, was the kind of game Pakistan will feel they could have taken something from. The opening exchanges were evenly contested, with neither side able to settle into a rhythm early on. But as the first half wore on, South Sudan gradually took control. Their breakthrough came after they won possession and moved the ball forward with quick, direct passes, finding space behind the Pakistani defence before their striker unleashed a powerful strike into the top corner.

What happened next was the most encouraging part of Pakistan's whole day. After the break, the Shaheens took the game to their opponents with greater pace, better technical quality and sharper combinations. They created real pressure and forced the South Sudan goalkeeper into a series of saves as they searched for an equaliser. South Sudan did have the ball in the net again, but the effort was ruled out for offside — a let-off that kept Pakistan alive right to the end.

In the end, though, the equaliser never came. Despite sustained attacking efforts, Pakistan could not find a way through, and the match finished 1-0. It was a narrow defeat against a physically imposing side — South Sudan, like Pakistan, are appearing in a FIFA World Cup competition for the first time, and they had already shown their quality by drawing 3-3 with Nigeria in their opening match on Saturday. For Pakistan, the second-half performance was proof they can compete with this level of opposition. The frustration is that proof did not come with a point.

Match two: Cyprus 4-0 Pakistan — set pieces and pressure prove too much

If the South Sudan game was a story of a narrow miss, the Cyprus game, kicking off at 8:30pm Pakistan time, was a story of a different kind of test — and one Pakistan struggled with from early on. Set pieces proved to be the major problem. Cyprus opened the scoring with a free-kick from the left, then doubled their lead with another free-kick from outside the penalty area. The second effort took a deflection on its way to goal, leaving the Pakistan goalkeeper with no chance.

Cyprus kept the pressure on after that. They pressed aggressively off the ball and moved quickly into space whenever they won possession, and Pakistan struggled to build attacks out of their own half, with players frequently closed down as they tried to advance. Cyprus added a third goal when their central striker held the ball up well, turned his marker and finished with a well-placed shot past the goalkeeper. Their fourth came from the penalty spot, following a scramble inside the penalty area.

The contrast between the two matches on Sunday tells its own story. Against South Sudan, Pakistan showed resilience and attacking intent after the break. Against Cyprus, they faced a team that punished every loose moment — from dead balls, from pressing, and from transitions. In a 40-minute match, played as two halves of 20 minutes in this eight-a-side format, there is very little time to recover from a bad spell. Cyprus made sure Pakistan's bad spell cost them four goals.

Where Pakistan stand in Group AD

After Sunday's double-header, Pakistan's record in Group AD reads: played three, lost three, scored two, conceded nine. The two goals both came in Saturday's opening match against Gambia, when Pakistan raced into a 2-0 lead through Ameer Hamza's fifth-minute opener and Baxi Hamal Khan's strike, before Gambia turned the game around to win 4-2. Since then, Pakistan have not scored in two matches — and that is the clearest area for improvement in today's closing games.

Team	Played	Points	Goal difference
Cyprus	3	7	+5
South Sudan	3	7	+2
Gambia	3	5	+2
Nigeria	3	3	0
Jordan	3	1	-2
Pakistan	3	0	-7

The table above reflects the position after Sunday's matches, before Monday's closing fixtures. It shows how tight the top of the group is — Cyprus and South Sudan on seven points, Gambia on five — and how much is still at stake for the teams around Pakistan. Every point in the final two games changes the tier Pakistan enter next, and every goal changes the goal difference that helps decide it.

What happened on Monday morning: Nigeria beat Cyprus 2-1

There was already movement in Group AD on Monday morning before Pakistan's own closing fixtures. Nigeria, Pakistan's final group opponents, recorded their first win of the tournament by coming from behind to beat Cyprus 2-1 at the Hovsan Competition Complex. Cyprus took the lead in the 12th minute through Georgios Christodoulou, but Wisdom Oche levelled for Nigeria in the 17th minute, and defender Timothy Ijach struck the winner in the 26th minute.

That result matters for Pakistan in two ways. First, it confirms that Cyprus, who beat Pakistan 4-0, are beatable — Nigeria did it within hours of Pakistan's defeat, by responding quickly to going behind and staying in the game. Second, it means Nigeria arrive for today's final group match against Pakistan with momentum and confidence, having ended a run of three draws. Pakistan will need their best defensive performance of the tournament to keep Nigeria's attackers quiet.

What comes today: Jordan, then Nigeria

Pakistan complete their qualification-stage fixtures on Monday, October 26, with another double-header: Jordan at 12:30pm Pakistan time, followed by Nigeria at 7:15pm Pakistan time. At the time of writing, no confirmed published result from the Jordan match was available, so no score from today's games is claimed here — but the shape of the day is clear, and so is what Pakistan need from it.

Jordan are the one team in the group below Pakistan's Sunday opponents in the table, with one point from three matches after drawing 2-2 with Nigeria. That makes the Jordan game Pakistan's most realistic chance of a first point — and possibly a first win — at the tournament. A win there would change the whole mood of the camp before the Nigeria game, and it would lift Pakistan off the bottom of the group table heading into the tier phase.

The Nigeria game, later in the evening, is a different challenge altogether. Nigeria are one of the traditional youth football powers in the group, and they have now found their winning touch. But Pakistan have already shown, in the opening 20 minutes against Gambia and the second half against South Sudan, that they can hurt good teams when they play on the front foot. If they can do that for longer stretches today, a result is not out of the question.

Three things Pakistan must fix today

1. Defend set pieces. Two of Cyprus's four goals came from free-kicks, and the fourth came from a penalty after a scramble. In small-sided football, where the pitch is 68 metres by 47 metres and the goals are full-size, a free-kick near the box is a genuine scoring chance. Pakistan need to be organised, disciplined and switched on every time the whistle goes for a dead ball — no cheap fouls in dangerous areas, and no switching off at the second ball.

2. Protect the good spells. Pakistan's best football in this tournament has come in bursts: the opening 20 minutes against Gambia, the second half against South Sudan. The problem has been what happens when the opponent has their spell. Gambia scored four times after going 2-0 down; Cyprus scored four times in one match. Pakistan need to survive the opponent's best ten minutes without conceding twice — stay compact, clear the danger, and wait for the momentum to turn again.

3. Turn chances into goals. Against South Sudan, Pakistan forced the goalkeeper into a series of second-half saves but could not find the equaliser. Against Cyprus, they barely got going as an attacking force. The players who have already scored in this tournament — Hamza and Baxi — need support, and the players who have come close, like Kaleem Ullah against Gambia, need one goal to fall for them. In a 40-minute game, one goal changes everything.

Players to watch today

Ameer Hamza remains Pakistan's biggest threat. His solo run and fierce finish for the opener against Gambia announced him on the world stage, and he was involved in the second goal as well. Opponents are now planning for him, which should open space for others — if Pakistan can move the ball quickly enough to use it.

Baxi Hamal Khan scored the goal of Pakistan's tournament so far, a driving run from the left and a shot into the top corner against Gambia. He is the kind of player who can change a tight game in one moment, and Pakistan need one of those moments today.

Shayan Abdul Jabbar Marwat, the goalkeeper, has had a demanding tournament. In eight-a-side football the goalkeeper is involved constantly — as a shot-stopper, a sweeper and the first attacker. After a difficult night against Cyprus, a calm and commanding day from Shayan would settle the whole team in front of him.

Kaleem Ullah has not scored yet, but his persistence in testing goalkeepers has been one of the encouraging signs of Pakistan's campaign. A goal today would reward that work and lift the entire squad.

The bigger picture: why this tournament still matters

It is worth stepping back from Sunday's scores for a moment. Pakistan's 14 players were picked from performances at the National U-17 Championship, after a 21-player training camp in Lahore that began on October 6. They flew from Islamabad to Baku on October 20, under head coach Ihsanullah Khan. Ten days later, they were playing two FIFA matches in a single day.

The scale of the event underlines what an achievement that is. A total of 189 FIFA member associations are taking part in Baku, with 78 of them — Pakistan and South Sudan included — appearing in a FIFA World Cup competition for the very first time. Nearly 1,000 matches are scheduled across six matchdays, mostly at the Hovsan Competition Complex, with the opening ceremony and the finals at Baku Crystal Hall. The players taking part were born in 2011 or 2012, and more than 3,000 players, coaches and officials are involved.

For Pakistan football, the value of this week is not measured only in points. Every minute these players spend against Gambia, South Sudan, Cyprus, Jordan and Nigeria is a minute no Pakistani team has ever had at a FIFA event before. The results will decide which tier Pakistan enter on October 28. The experience will shape these players for years — and if they can finish the group stage with a point or a win today, it will shape the story of this tournament too.

Sunday was a hard lesson. Monday is a chance to show it was learned. Two matches, one day, and a first point still to play for — that is what the Shaheens are chasing in Baku today.

Images are illustrative football photographs from Wikimedia Commons (not photographs of the matches in Baku): a youth match photo, a children playing football photo, and a night match photo by Michael Barera (CC BY-SA). Sources: SportsLink PK, EIN News / Hot in Juba, Complete Sports, Ademola Sports, Geo Super, WE News English, Daily Metro Time, AsiaOne and FIFA.