Tajikistan and Pakistan are set to come together on Tuesday afternoon in the final game in round two of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with neither side now able to progress into the third round.
The hosts have picked up five points from their five games, while the visitors are still in search of their first points in Group G.
Match preview
© Reuters
Tajikistan's hopes of qualifying for a first-ever World Cup finals came to a devastating end last week after they suffered a 3-0 defeat to second-place Jordan, leaving them five points behind qualification with just one game to play.
Petar Segrt guided the side to a draw and a win from the opening two fixtures, leaving them second in the group with a three-point lead over Jordan, and they followed that up by reaching the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup in their first appearance in the competition.
Segrt departed following that achievement, with Gela Shekiladze taking the reins, but the Georgian has failed to hit the heights of his predecessor, taking just one point from the three qualifying matches he has overseen.
That has resulted in Tajikistan losing their World Cup qualification space and dropping into third place, leaving them set to take part in the Asian Cup qualifying third round.
As for the visitors, they have had a dismal time in the second round of qualifiers and come into this final match as one of only three teams yet to put a point on the board, alongside Nepal and Chinese Taipei.
Having scored just a single goal and conceded a massive 23 times, second only to Myanmar's 24 goals conceded, Pakistan look set to finish Group G with six defeats from six games.
Stephen Constantine's men lost 6-1 to the hosts in the reverse fixture on matchday two of Group G, a result that will give the visitors very little confidence coming into this one.
Pakistan have won just one of their last 19 matches and have failed to pick up a victory on the road since a 1-0 win against Nepal in September 2018.
Team News
Tajikistan may be out of the running for World Cup qualification but they will be looking to end their current four-match winless streak, leaving Shekiladze likely to name an attacking side against one of the worst defences in the competition.
Amadoni Kamolov, Rustam Soirov and Shahrom Samiev are tied on two goals in the group and all of them will be looking to finish this game as their nation's top scorer.
As for Pakistan, a change in system to a five-defender formation in their last outing failed to help them get any points on the board but it was their best defensive performance so far against the best team in the group, leaving them likely to stick with that system in this game.
Abdullah Iqbal started at the centre of defence with the captaincy in the last match, and the defender is expected to lead his side out once again here.
Tajikistan possible starting lineup:
Yatimov; Safarov, Khanonov, Z Dzhuraboev, Nazarov; Pnadzhshanbe, A Dzhuraboev, Umarbaev; Kamolov, Soirov, Samiev
Pakistan possible starting lineup:
Butt; Hayat, M Khan, Iqbal, H Khan, Fazal; Ali, Nabi, O Khan; Ullah, Younas
We say: Tajikistan 4-0 Pakistan
Pakistan come into this game with one of the worst defensive and offensive records across the entire competition and we expect that to continue with a comfortable victory for the hosts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
