Last month, while most of the country’s sports fans had their eyes on the PSL, Pakistan’s women’s football team was doing something historic. In their first-ever Fifa Series campaign, the national team demolished the Turks and Caicos Islands 8-0 in their first game. The tournament took place in the Ivory Coast. This was Pakistan’s best-ever margin of victory, surpassing the 7-0 victory over the Maldives back in 2022, and saw six different names on the scoresheet. The momentous win received praise from several quarters, including the president, and some contrasted the fabulous display from the nation’s women footballers with the insipid stuff that the men’s cricket team has served up in recent years. As fate would have it, the latter will still likely continue to hog the national spotlight, whether they are in the colours of the national team or a private franchise. Sadly, the rest of the tournament did not live up to the high expectations set by the opening victory, with the team finishing third in their group after defeats after tough defeats at the hands of Mauritania and the Ivory Coast. The 2-0 loss against the Ivory Coast is somewhat deceptive, with the host nation reportedly being ranked 72 places ahead of Pakistan and having scored 23 goals across their first two games.
However, some players reportedly said the loss to Mauritania was rather painful, as Mauritania was unranked and Pakistan felt they had a good chance of beating them. As it turns out, they almost did, with the team reportedly failing to convert several clear chances and eventually losing 1-0. However, the fact that these women athletes even made it this far is an achievement in itself. For far too long, Pakistan has not cared much about its women athletes. And while that is starting to change, with their triumphs and trials being covered more frequently, there is still a long way to go. In women’s football, there is the added challenge of thriving in a country where cricket is the hegemon. But even among Pakistani football fans, it is quite likely they could name the squads of Brazil or England rather than their own nation’s men’s or women’s football teams. This has to change.
In the aftermath of the tournament, players have reportedly said that Pakistan women’s football needs more games and that while other teams have several Fifa windows to work on their game, they only get 10 days together. They also pointed to the gap between diaspora players who play for clubs and train regularly abroad and local players who do not have this opportunity. It is hoped that the nation’s sporting authorities will take note of these issues and work on addressing them. This is the least the efforts and achievements of the women’s football team in this tournament deserve.
