ABIDJAN: Three days after scripting their biggest ever victory, Pakistan women’s national team were brought back down to earth with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Mauritania on Sunday — but the result leaves Adeel Rizki’s side still very much in contention heading into their final FIFA Series group match against hosts Ivory Coast.

Fresh from a record 8-0 demolition of the Turks and Caicos Islands in their opening fixture on Thursday, Pakistan created several chances at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium but a superb first-half strike from Ramata Gengui proved the difference as Mauritania bounced back from an 8-0 thrashing at the hands of the Ivorians.

Nadia Khan, who became Pakistan’s all-time leading scorer in the previous match, had the first opportunity for her side in the 13th minute when she shot straight at the goalkeeper after the ball found its way to her.

But it was Mauritania who drew first blood in the 20th minute.

Gengui volleyed a cross from the left into the bottom corner from outside the box, leaving goalkeeper Zeeyana Jivraj with no chance.

Pakistan responded immediately. In the 23rd minute, a defensive mix-up presented Mariam Mahmood with a close-range opportunity, but she could only sting the palms of the Mauritanian goalkeeper. Late in the first half, Kayla Siddiqui fired wide from a free kick as Pakistan pressed for an equaliser.

Adeel made two changes at the interval, introducing Karissa Jivraj and Anmol Hira in place of Rameen Fareed and Sanah Mehdi. The substitutions injected fresh energy into the attack, with Aqsa Mushtaq seeing a flurry of chances — the best of them a dipping shot from outside the box that Mauritania goalkeeper Aissata Fall palmed over the crossbar.

At the other end, Zeeyana produced a superb save to deny Tacko Diabira as Pakistan pushed for a leveller.

Mariam had a chance in the 82nd minute but could not convert. Minutes later, Isra Khan found the side netting with a first-time volley and Kayla then threaded a superb through ball that Mariam failed to finish.

Pakistan continued to press during eight minutes of added time, with Aqsa testing the goalkeeper from a late free kick, but the equaliser proved elusive.

Head coach Adeel acknowledged that his side had paid the price for a lack of composure in front of goal.

“The game started off very slow and we slowly grew into the game,” Adeel said after the match. “We had a number of chances but we weren’t able to convert them. The composure in front of the goal wasn’t there. That’s something we tried working on throughout the camp but again on the given day we weren’t able to finish [the chances].”

He suggested that overconfidence may have played a role following the team’s historic opening victory.

“I think there was some element of being overconfident,” he said. “They arrived in our box once and they scored and we had almost six, seven chances of our own but we never availed them. They shot either straight to the goalkeeper or wide of the target. That’s what football is, we have to deal with it and move on and look forward to our next match.”

Adeel pointed to defensive inconsistency and the physical disparity between the two sides as areas requiring attention.

“Defensively we weren’t up to the mark in the first half but we were a lot better in the second, and I think that’s something we need to work on, to be more consistent throughout the game,” he said. “The girls worked really hard but I think the physicality of the Mauritania players was much stronger compared to us and that’s another aspect we need to work on.”

He also noted the ranking gap between the two nations, with Mauritania fielding several players at high-level European clubs.

“Mauritania is a higher ranked team [than Pakistan]. They have a lot of players playing in different high level clubs across Europe and we try to have to match that,” he said.

Looking ahead to Pakistan’s final group match against hosts Ivory Coast on Thursday, Adeel said the team would analyse their mistakes and come back stronger.

“We need to analyse the game and revisit what our mistakes were and avoid them against Ivory Coast in our next match.”

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026