Abu Dhabi
\nPakistan\u2019s 1-0 victory over Cambodia in a World Cup qualifier this week hardly registered on soccer\u2019s radar yet such was the significance for the national team that manager Stephen Constantine said he had never seen so many grown men cry.
\nA 67th minute goal by Harun Hamid in the second leg ensured Pakistan progressed to the second round of Asia\u2019s World Cup 2026 on aggregate having drawn 0-0 draw in Phnom Penh.
\nIt was Pakistan\u2019s first-ever World Cup qualifying round win and the country\u2019s first international victory of any sort since 2018 and sparked celebrations at Islamabad\u2019s Jinnah Sports Stadium.
\nEnglishman Constantine had only taken over in late September, tasked with ending a 13-match losing sequence with a squad pieced together from home and overseas-based players, some of whom had not played a competitive match for months.
\n\u201cIt is an unbelievable atmosphere here, I\u2019ve not seen so many grown men cry in all my life,\u201d the 61-year-old Constantine, whose coaching career includes stints in charge of Nepal, Malawi, Sudan, Rwanda and India, told the BBC.
\n\u201cIt is a massive deal; in their 75-year history it is the first time they\u2019ve qualified for the second stage, they haven\u2019t won since 2018 and it was the first home game for eight and a half years. It has been unbelievably emotional.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve only been here three and a half weeks, not even. I\u2019m just really pleased for the people, the players and Pakistan football.\u201d
\nCricket is by far the most popular sport in Pakistan with soccer a very distant poor relation in comparison.
\nRanked 197th in the world, Pakistan were banned by world soccer body FIFA in April 2021 for 15 months because of \u2018undue third party interference\u2019 — their second ban in four years.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have regular football; half of them have part-time jobs … and that makes the double result even more impressive. Some of them haven\u2019t played for months,\u201d Constantine said.
\nPakistan will now face matches against Asia powerhouse Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Jordan in the second round, which begins in November although Constantine does not know whether he will still be in charge as he is on a short-term arrangement.
\n\u201cThe next game is away to Saudi Arabia in November, so welcome to the real world! My current deal finishes in the next three days …\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThey cannot give me a full one-year, two-year term. The PFF (Pakistan Football Federation) will have to come up with some sort of plan. I\u2019m assuming they want me to stay but we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Abu Dhabi Pakistan\u2019s 1-0 victory over Cambodia in a World Cup qualifier this week hardly registered on soccer\u2019s radar yet such was the significance for the national team that manager Stephen Constantine said he had never seen so many grown men cry. A 67th minute goal by Harun Hamid in the second leg ensured Pakistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-362703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n