ANAK (Saudi Arabia): Pakistan suffered a heavy defeat in their maiden qualifier for the AFC Futsal Asia Cup as they were thrashed 8-1 by Iraq in their Group ‘D’ opener on Saturday.

The group winners across the eight groups qualify directly to next year’s finals in Indonesia while the best seven second-placed teams will also go through.

Pakistan face Saudi Arabia in their next group game while Iraq will take on Chinese Taipei.

Pakistan started brightly with a chance in the opening minute but Yousaf Ahmad’s effort went wide of the right post while at the other end, Tareq Zeyad Sulaiman forced a save from Pakistan keeper Muhammad Tahir in the third minute.

Iraq got their second in the eighth minute after Zeyad Sulaiman gained possession and found Al Ogaili, who set up Salim Al Husaynat for an easy finish.

Salim Al Darraji then capitalised on an errant pass and a surging run ended with a thumping finish before he got his second in the 28th minute with a stinging shot that found the top corner.

Al Husaynat then doubled his tally two minutes later to make it 5-0 for Iraq after volleying home off a corner with Mustafa Ihsan Al Bayati getting his name on the scoresheet seconds later.

Pakistan reduced the deficit in the 34th minute through Muhammad Ali Khan but Iraq netted again through Al Darraji and Harith Saad Al Obaidi to kick off their campaign in style.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2025