India–Pakistan football rivalry

The India–Pakistan football rivalry is one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world. The arch-rival relations between the two nations, resulting from the extensive communal violence and conflict that marked the Partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947 and the subsequent Kashmir conflict, laid the foundations for the emergence of an intense sporting rivalry between the two nations..

Origins

The roots of the background can be found in the Kashmir Conflict, going back to the 1947 Kashmir War.

AFC Asian Cup

The first competitive match between the two sides was in 1959, when both side faced off in 1960 AFC Asian Cup qualification where India won the game 1-0 at Kochi with the goal by Derek D'Souza. The return leg of the fixture saw Pakistan win the game by 1-0.

Both faced off each other on 15 November 1967, for 1968 AFC Asian Cup qualification which ended in a 1-1 draw. Again both teams met in the qualification group for AFC Asian Cup in 1984 game which India won 2-0 to qualify to the next stage and the longest unbeaten run of Indian team of 10 games started.

The last between the two nations in AFC Asian Cup was on 9 May 1992, when India defeated Pakistan 2-0 in the 1992 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

SAFF Games

The first edition of the SAFF was held in Lahore, Pakistan. Tournament consisted of four team in a single group with each team playing 3 games. Pakistan and India once again faced-off and the match ended 1-1, India went on to win the tournament and Pakistan was the last in the group behind Sri Lanka and Nepal respectively.

They next face each other in 1997 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup semi-finals with India winning the match 2-0, it was the first time that both the team did played against each other in the knockout phase. India went on to win the tournament and Pakistan finished third (its their only achievement to date). In 1999 SAFF Gold Cup both teams were added in the same group once again, with India getting a 2-0 victory again.

It was not until 2003 that the both team played against each other, for the first time since 1999 both teams came face to face in the 2003 SAFF Cup group stage where Pakistan ended India's unbeaten streak of 10 games in the group stage match, winning by 1-0 with Rasool breaking the deadlock in 50th minute, it was Pakistan's first victory over India in a international competition match since the last time they won in 1960 AFC Asian Cup. Pakistan played India once again in the same tournament for the third place match only to lose 2-1 with Jadav scoring a winner in the 99th minute of the game, giving India the victory in the sudden death after Rasool has scored the equaliser in 66th minute.

Pakistan hosted the 2005 SAFF Cup, Pakistan and India both reached the semi-finals with India qualifying for the finals after defeating Maldives, as Pakistan was playing Bangladesh, fans expected to see a dream final of India v Pakistan in the homeland of Pakistan, Bangladesh went on to win the semi-finals 1-0 and lost the final 1-0 to India. It was again a long gap before Pakistan and India faced-off in a competitive match. Pakistan played against India in 2008 SAFF Championship group stages and saw India winning the game 2-1, with Adnan Ahmed scoring a consoling goal at 88th minute. In 2013 SAFF Championship group stage India defeated Pakistan 1-0 as Samar Ishaq of Pakistan scored an own goal in the 14th minute.

Recent Matches

Pakistan and India played a series of two matches in 2014. Both matches were played in Bangalore. The series ended 1-1 as India won the first game 1-0 and Pakistan won the second game 2-0. Before the 2014 series of two matches between the two teams, when asked about the pressure leading to match Indian captain Sunil Chhetri said, and he further said, When Pakistani captain Kaleemullah was asked if both countries can live peacefully? To which he replied,

Club Level

Clubs from both countries have frequently faced each other from the 1985 Asian Club Championship as it was the first time a Pakistani club qualified for an Asian club competition.

They first met in the group stage 1985 Asian Club Championship when PIA FC faceD East Bengal in a match, resulting 2-0 in the favor of the Indian side.

In 1987 Asian Club Championship season PAF FC of Pakistan and Mohun Bagan were drawn into the same group. Mohun Bagan went on to win the match 4-1.

The following season Mohun Bagan faced Cresent Textile FC from across the border, Pakistani side suffered a humiliating 8-0 defeat, the biggest victory and the biggest lost for the Indian and Pakistani side respectively to the date in club level.

In the 1989-90 season it was the clash between Salgaocar of India and Punjab FC of Pakistan. the group stage match between the two team ended in a goal less draw. The following season both teams were drawn in different groups and both failed to qualify to next stage.

Clubs from both countries did not faced-off since 1989-90 season as last appearance from an Indian club was in the current season of 2017 AFC Champions League, failing in the qualification round, Pakistan's last appearance was in 1998-99 season when Allied Bank FC withdrew from the tournament in the qualification stages.

List of Competitive Matches