Pakistan make progress in FIFA World Cup qualifying

AAMIR QURESHI/ AFP

Pakistan qualified for the second round of Asia's World Cup 2026 preliminaries for the first time as a 1-0 win over Cambodia took the Stephen Constantine-coached side into the next phase.

Former Queens Park Rangers midfielder Harun Hamid struck midway through the second half for Pakistan, with the goal enough to ensure his side advanced after the teams shared a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Phnom Penh last Thursday.

Pakistan will feature in Group G, where they will meet Roberto Mancini's Saudi Arabia on November 16 before taking on Jordan and Tajikistan.

The South Asian nation are joined in the second round by Myanmar, who face a daunting trip to Japan in their next game after a 0-0 draw with Macau confirmed their progress after a 5-1 win in the first leg last week.

"Japan is one of the best teams in the world, but from better teams you can learn," said Myanmar coach Michael Feichtenbeiner, whose side will also play North Korea and Syria in Group B.

Singapore booked their spot in the next round, where they will join South Korea, China and Thailand in Group C after Shawal Anuar's 81st minute goal sealed a 1-0 win in Guam to complete a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Afghanistan advanced to Group A with a 1-0 victory over Mongolia thanks to Farshad Noor's second half goal to secure a 2-0 aggregate win and Abdullah Al Mutairi's side will next face Qatar, India and Kuwait.

Hong Kong survived a scare in Thimphu, losing 2-0 to hosts Bhutan but progressing as a result of their 4-0 win in the first leg at home.

Jorn Andersen's team will take on Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in Group E in the second round.

Taiwan won 3-0 over Timor-Leste to complete a 7-0 victory over two legs to go into Group D to meet Oman, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia while Indonesia recorded a second 6-0 win over Brunei to join Iraq, Vietnam and the Philippines in Group F.

Nepal's 1-0 victory over Laos in Vientiane secured a 2-1 aggregate success and takes them into Group H with fellow qualifiers Yemen, who drew 1-1 with Sri Lanka to complete a 4-1 aggregate win.

The group line-up is completed by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Foysal Ahmed Fahim was on target just after halftime as Bangladesh notched up a 2-1 win over the Maldives to progress 3-2 on aggregate and they will play in Group I with Australia, Palestine and Lebanon.

The top two teams in each of the nine groups in the next phase will advance to the third round when 18 sides will battle for the continent's eight guaranteed berths at the 48-team finals in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

More from Sport

  • Arsenal beaten 3-0 by Brighton to end perfect start

    Brighton and Hove Albion ended Arsenal's perfect start to the season in stunning fashion on Saturday, routing the Premier League champions 3-0 on the south coast.

  • England complete Sri Lanka whitewash to top T20 rankings

    Jos Buttler hit an unbeaten half-century as dominant England beat a sorry Sri Lanka by eight wickets to complete a 3-0 series whitewash and replace India on top of the T20 world rankings after the final match of the series in Manchester on Saturday.

  • UAE begins campaign at Asian Games in Japan

    The UAE has begun its campaign at the 20th Asian Games in Japan, with 165 athletes representing the country across 21 sports.

  • UEFA defends draw policy after Ireland request

    UEFA said on Saturday that decisions on whether national teams should be kept apart in competition draws were made on a case-by-case basis and guided primarily by security considerations, after Ireland's football association said its request to avoid future pairings with Israel had been rejected.

  • Villa chalk up first victory as Spurs misery continues

    Aston Villa finally breathed a sigh of relief as they claimed their first Premier League win of the season with a 3-2 victory at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, while Spurs' season lurched deeper into trouble after another demoralising defeat.

News