Just winning the Intercontinental Cup in Odisha, India travel to Bengaluru for the 2023 SAFF Championship that with a highly anticipated fixture in the tournament opener. Before facing Nepal and guest nation Kuwait in their group, the Blue Tigers will lock horns with Pakistan after five years and on Indian soil nearly a decade later. That meeting in Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday, 21 June 2023 will be played in a rousing atmosphere.
India and Pakistan have played each other for a total of 24 times. The rivalry also went deep in the SAFF Championship with eight games played ahead of the meeting this month. The Blue Tigers have largely been successful with six wins while the Shaheens have nicked a surprise victory as well. In recent years too, India have dominated by claiming four wins out of the last five overall meetings. Here, we list down all of the meetings in the SAFF Championship.
India vs Pakistan in SAFF Championship
India 1-1 Pakistan (23 July 1993)
The first meeting between the sides in the 1993 SAFF Championship happened in its inaugural edition. The tournament was hosted by Pakistan themselves and in the end, India grabbed the crown at the rival’s territory. Played in a round-robin format, the Blue Tigers needed only a draw to secure the championship ahead of Sri Lanka in second and they claimed it against the hosts. Muhammad Nauman Khan and IM Vijayan, who scored three to earn the top-scorer award, found the net in this match.
India 2-0 Pakistan (11 September 1997)
The next tie for India with Pakistan happened in the next edition in 1997. Hosted by Nepal, India once again lifted the trophy and manage to win against their bitter rivals this time on the way. It was a 2-0 victory in the semi-final tie with legendary striker Vijayan coming back to haunt Pakistan by scoring a starring brace. He once again listed himself as the top-scorer for the tournament with six strikes to his name. Jo Paul Ancheri and Bhaichung Bhutia were the other star figures in the attack for India.
India 2-0 Pakistan (26 April 1999)
The following tournament India, hosting the SAFF for the first time, once again claimed a 2-0 score win over Pakistan. It was Bhutia and Syed Sabir Pasha who fired the Blue Tigers to victory going on to successfully defend the silverware. Meanwhile, Pakistan finished last of the three teams in Group A by losing all their battles and registering no points on board. They even failed to score a goal while conceding six at the same time.
Pakistan 1-0 India (10 January 2003)
India faced Pakistan for the fourth time in the SAFF Championship in 2003 but this time the pendulum swung in the latter’s favor. In the group opener, a 50th-minute strike from Sarfraz Rasool claimed a surprise win for the Shaheens and the first in the competition history against their neighbours. Pakistan also came first in their group ahead of India and reached the semifinals.
India 2-1 Pakistan (20 January 2003)
However, that win remain the only victory for Pakistan as they lost the third-place playoff to India in the same edition with both exited from the last four. Nevertheless, it was a thrilling watch. Vijayan slammed in a 56th-minute opener after a goalless first half only for Rasool to become a menace again, equalizing 10 minutes later. The game was forced to extra time where Abhishek Yadav snatched a 99th-minute winner in Dhaka.
India 2-1 Pakistan (05 June 2008)
The 2008 SAFF Championship was jointly hosted by Maldives and Sri Lanka, the first in the history of the tournament, with the former pulling off a major upset by defeating India in the final. It was a big disappointment for the Blue Tigers considering they dominated the group stages including a 2-1 victory over Pakistan in the second match. NP Pradeep and Steven Dias got the goals in the first half for the success rendering Adnan Ahmed’s 88th-minute header a mere consolation.
India 1-0 Pakistan (01 September 2013)
In 2013, India’s only win in the group stages of the Championship came against Pakistan. Remarkably, the game was only decided by an own goal from Samar Ishaq. The result also meant the Blue Tigers eventually finished second in the group with a better head-to-head record. For both, the goal difference stayed at zero. India went on to lose the final against Afghanistan.
India 3-1 Pakistan (12 September 2018)
The latest win for the Indian men’s team in this meeting came in a big way in 2018. Manvir Singh came up with the goods by netting in either half before Sumeet Passi made their progress from the semifinal a certainty. Mohammad Reza Ali's late strike did not save the blushes of Pakistan. India though lost another SAFF final to the Maldives but manage to retake the silverware three years later.
India vs Pakistan overall Head to Head
India wins - 11
Draws - 10
Pakistan wins - 3
The first-ever meeting came in 1959 when India was defeated by Pakistan in the AFC Cup preliminary round, held in Kolkata, by 1-0. After that, the Blue Tigers managed to string together a 14-match unbeaten run. Pakistan managed to win only three times in this meeting, drawing 10 and losing 11 more.
