India 5 (Arya More 14’, Ritika Singh 28’, Khushbu Saroj 29’, Diti Kanungo 37’, 40’)
defeated
Pakistan 4 (Kayanat Bokhari 4’, Azwa Chaudhry 26’, Anmol Hira 27’)

Piyush Khanore
AIFF Media Team

NONTHABURI, THAILAND: The Indian women’s futsal team staged a sensational comeback to defeat Pakistan 5-3 in the SAFF Women’s Futsal Championship 2026 at the Nonthaburi Stadium in Thailand on Monday, January 19, 2026.

Pakistan had taken the lead twice in the game and were 3-1 up at one stage before India, coached by Joshuah Vaz, struck four goals in the final 12 minutes to seal the win and go top of the table after matchday 4. The Futsal Tigresses are on nine points from four games, followed by Bangladesh, who have seven points from three. Pakistan also have seven points but trail on goal difference.

India started the proceedings with more urgency, peppering shot after shot in the opening couple of minutes. But it was Kayanat Bokhari who opened the scoring with Pakistan’s first shot on target in the fourth minute. The captain drilled a first-time shot into the top corner from 10 metres out.

Going a goal behind was bound to create even more urgency among the Futsal Tigresses. Mithila Ramani, Pooja Gupta and Arya More shot from distance but failed to test Zeeyana Jivraj in the Pakistan goal.

The possession and pressure finally paid off for Joshuah Vaz’s side in the 14th minute when Arya scored the equaliser and her second goal of the campaign. The fixo’s initial effort from Diti Kanungo’s corner went off target. But Ritika Singh was lurking at the far post and sent it back to Arya, who placed it perfectly into the bottom corner with a clean left-footed shot.

Pakistan came out of their shell a bit after conceding the equaliser, and the game became more end-to-end. Both keepers made saves from point-blank range in the next few minutes — Jivraj denied Khushbu Saroj before Aiswarya Arumugan kept out Azwa Chaudhry’s shot on the counter.

India continued to bombard shots from long range but couldn’t breach Jivraj’s goal again in the first period. Achom Degio’s shot went straight into the goalkeeper’s hands, while Arya’s sailed over.

Jivraj made two more saves early in the second half to maintain parity, but then came the most frantic period of the match with four goals in as many minutes.

Pakistan retook the lead in the 26th minute when Chaudhry pounced on a loose ball and shot on the turn into an empty net. India goalkeeper Tanvi Mavani had come out of her goal but was unsuccessful in dealing with Bokhari’s cross.

Fatemeh Sharif’s side stunned India again when they extended the lead in the next minute. Bokhari saw her shot saved by Tanvi, but an unmarked Anmol Hira slotted in the rebound.

Desperate to find a way back again, India went for the power play, as Diti replaced Tanvi. The numerical advantage worked in the Futsal Tigresses’ favour as Diti assisted India’s second goal. She found Ritika on the left, and the latter struck it in first time from a narrow angle to make it 2-3.

In no time, the scores were level again. India were swift with their response. Ritika robbed Bokhari of the ball in the final third and shot on target. Jivraj saved that one, but Khushbu charged on the rebound and thrashed it in to equalise for India again.

It was all India for the remainder of the contest, but they were made to sweat by Pakistan, who were determined to come out with at least a point. Jivraj made a couple of more saves from close range to frustrate the Indian attack. But the resistance was broken with just over three minutes remaining on the clock as India took the lead for the first time in the game.

Arya drove a low shot from distance, and Diti, stationed beside the post, cleverly deflected it past Jivraj to make it 4-3. Diti was again on hand to wrap up the scoring in the final few seconds of the game. Bokhari lost the ball in the Pakistan half once more, this time to Khushbu, who then laid it for Diti to slot into the empty goal and net her sixth goal of the campaign. She is now level with Khushbu as the tournament’s top scorer.

India’s match squad: 1 Tanvi Mavani (GK), 13 Aiswarya Arumugam (GK), 2 Achom Degio, 3 Radhika Patel, 4 Mithila Ramani, 5 Nishka Parkash, 6 Arya More, 7 Jigmet Chunzen ©, 8 Khushbu Saroj, 9 Sonali Mondal, 10 Ritika Singh, 11 Diti Kanungo, 12 Pooja Gupta, 14 Aarushi Santhosh