Pakistan to participate in women’s football tournament in Saudi Arabia next month

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan women’s national football team will travel to Saudi Arabia in September to take part in a multi-nation tournament, an official at the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) said on Tuesday.

Pakistan last traveled to Saudi Arabia in January this year to participate in a four-nation tournament that also featured Comoros and Mauritius. The green shirts beat Comoros before losing to Mauritius 2-1 but ended the tournament on an impressive note, drawing 1-1 against a formidable Saudi Arabia which emerged victorious. 

“The Saudi [Arabian Football Federation] sent us an invite, which we accepted but we don’t know which [other countries] teams are taking part,” a PFF official privy to the development told Arab News, declining to be named.

“We only know that the matches would take place from September 18-30 according to the FIFA calendar for women’s international matches.”

PFF has not officially announced Pakistan’s participation in the Saudi event or shared a schedule but official said the Federation would issue a press release as soon as more details were available.

The team won a thumping 7-0 victory over Maldives in the South Asian Football Federation championship in September 2022. In April this year, the resilient team defied all odds and emerged victorious with a 1-0 win over Tajikistan in the qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

It was Pakistan’s first win at a major global tournament since returning to regular international football in September 2022 after a long hiatus. Previously, the team had only bagged wins in friendly matches or exhibition tournaments like the Four-Nation Cup in Saudi Arabia.

The team’s history is relatively short, with their debut in the Dhaka South Asian Games in