Pakistan defeat Indonesia 2-0 in AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifier clash

Published July 2, 2025
Pakistan celebrate winning their match against Indonesia during the qualifiers for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 2. — X/@TheRealPFF
Pakistan celebrate winning their match against Indonesia during the qualifiers for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 2. — X/@TheRealPFF

Pakistan on Wednesday beat hosts Indonesia 2-0 in their second group match in the qualifiers for the 2026 Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup, making a comeback from their defeat in the first group match last week.

The national squad was drawn in Group ‘D’ of the qualifiers in Jakarta alongside Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan. Pakistan lost their first match of the campaign to Chinese Taipei 8-0 on June 29.

Hailing today’s victory as a “milestone in women’s football”, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) wrote in an X post, “Pakistan defeats 95th-ranked Indonesia 2-0. Power, passion, and purpose on full display.”

Nadia Khan opened up the scoring eight minutes into the match, before Suha Hirani doubled the lead in the 19th minute by scoring a penalty.

“The onus was on Indonesia to find their way back, but despite introducing Isa, Helsya Maeisyaroh and Marsela Yuliana Awi into the mix, [Coach] Satoru Mochizuki’s charges were unable to overturn the deficit,” said an AFC press release.

Pakistan face Kyrgyzstan in the final game of the group on July 5 (Saturday).

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Jennah Farooki, Nisha Ashraf, Zeeyana Jivraj; Defenders: Aliya Sadiq, Layla Banaras, Maria Khan (captain), Nizalia Siddiqui, Sophia Qureshi; Midfielders: Amina Hanif, Azwa Chaudhry, Marsha Malik, Rameen Fareed, Sanah Mehdi, Suha Hirani; Forwards: Anmol Hira, Aqsa Mushtaq, Isra Khan, Mariam Mahmood, Nadia Khan, Zehmena Malik, Zulfia Nazir.

Opinion

Editorial

Tax unrest
Updated 14 Jul, 2025

Tax unrest

Govt has a very poor track record of staying the course of tough decisions that affect the ruling party’s core political base.
Surging numbers
14 Jul, 2025

Surging numbers

PAKISTAN is running out of time — and space. Our population, now over 240m, continues to grow at nearly 2pc a ...
Media matters
14 Jul, 2025

Media matters

PAKISTAN’s journalists are no strangers to living dangerously. The Freedom Network’s new report, Journalism in...
Hybrid worries
Updated 13 Jul, 2025

Hybrid worries

Once elected office is reduced to theatre, useful only for maintaining appearances, it becomes a stage for managing perceptions rather than exercising power.
Bitter taste
13 Jul, 2025

Bitter taste

THE government’s plan to import 350,000 tonnes of sugar, months after allowing the export of more than twice that...
No red lines
13 Jul, 2025

No red lines

THE US’ move to sanction Francesca Albanese, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied...