Pakistan-Afghanistan AFC Asian Cup Qualifier to go ahead as scheduled

The 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifier between Pakistan and Afghanistan will proceed as scheduled after Afghanistan was issued a landing permit.

"Yes, the landing permit has been issued to Afghanistan," a well-placed source confirmed to Nukta.

An official from the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) also confirmed the development from Kabul, saying, “Yes, we are coming to Pakistan and visas will be issued on arrival.”

When asked whether all foreign-based Afghan players would arrive in Islamabad in time, the official said, “Yes, inshaAllah, the entire squad will be there by tomorrow morning.”

Earlier there were serious concerns as the majority of Afghanistan’s squad had not received visas for the crucial qualifier which kicks off at 2pm tomorrow in Islamabad. According to AFC regulations, match can be delayed by up to 90 minutes if necessary.

Initially, only three players and ten officials had been granted visas while the rest of the squad, primarily comprising foreign-based players, were still awaiting clearance causing a significant deadlock.

However, the Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) persistent efforts bore fruit with the government issuing the landing permit approximately 25 hours before kickoff.

AFC match officials have already arrived in Pakistan. In the meantime, the PFF instructed its media team to proceed with the pre-match press conference of Pakistan head coach Nolberto Solano, which was held at 1:30pm as scheduled. The national team also conducted its final training session in preparation for the match.

The initial visas for the three Afghan players and ten officials were issued after biometric verification at the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul. A well-placed source told Nukta that the AFF had listed Kabul as the biometric and interview location for all players, including those residing outside Afghanistan when submitting the visa applications.

The Afghan team submitted visa applications as late as September 27 with visa reference numbers shared with the PFF only on October 2 just one week before the scheduled fixture. This process violated the AFC Competition Regulations which require participating teams to secure host country visas no less than one month prior to match day.

Pakistan has already lost both of its previous Group E matches against Syria and Myanmar, both away fixtures.

Following Thursday’s home match against Afghanistan Pakistan will face Afghans again in the return leg on October 14 in Kuwait.

Subsequently Pakistan will host Syria on November 18 and Myanmar on March 31, 2026, concluding their Group E campaign.

A total of 24 teams are competing in the third round of the qualifiers, divided into six groups of four. The group winners will join the 18 teams that have already qualified through the second round for the AFC Asian Cup finals.