Pakistan suffer second-half meltdown in 7-0 thrashing by Jordan

Despite trailing Jordan 2-0, Pakistan had finished the first half at the Amman International Stadium strongly.

But then came the meltdown; the character and determination showed by Pakistan five days earlier against the same opponents dissipating by the minute as Stephen Constantine’s men went on to concede five unanswered goals against their hosts to suffer their heaviest loss so far in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday night.

Jordan’s 7-0 triumph took them into second spot in Group ‘G’, behind leaders Saudi Arabia, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Tajikistan, with Pakistan remaining rock-bottom.

Head coach Constantine has already stated that Pakistan’s first foray into the second round of World Cup qualifying is a chance for his players to prepare for the task ahead, when they drop into the third qualifying round for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

Constantine had hoped his players would build upon their 3-0 loss at home to Jordan on Thursday but this performance takes them back to the drawing board.

Jordan, looking to rack up the goals, scored at will and could’ve had more; the loss amplifying Constantine’s insistence on a the national league to resume in Pakistan to allow his players regular competitive action.

Pakistan had conceded twice in the opening nine minutes in the reverse fixture and Jordan, playing the first game in front of their fans since their memorable run to the Asian Cup final last month, had to wait until the 15th minute to fire up a raucous home crowd.

Mousa Al Tamari, who ended up with a hat-trick, timed his run to perfection to get on the end of a delightful through ball by Ibrahim Sadeh before opening up his body to plant a left-foot shot past Yousuf Butt.

Jordan doubled their lead just before the hour mark when a surging Yaizan Al Naimat was brought down in the box. Yousuf guessed correctly from the resulting spot kick but Al Naimat’s shot had too much power.

Pakistan were playing on the counterattack and after Harun Hamid sent a shot over the bar six minutes before half-time, Imran Kayani came closest to reducing the deficit three minutes later when his shot whistled past the post.

But any hope of Pakistan carrying on the momentum into the second half were dashed when striker Fareedullah came off injured at half-time with tests later revealing he’d suffered a broken collarbone.