India vs Pakistan SAFF Championship 2026: Time, Streaming, Squad and Preview, Explained

India open their SAFF Championship 2026 title defence against Pakistan on Thursday, 5 November 2026, at 15:00 IST, at the National Stadium in Dhaka. The All India Football Federation (AIFF Media Team, 4 November 2026) calls it the opening Group B fixture and says the Blue Tigers are aiming for a record-extending 10th SAFF title. The Indian Express Sports Desk, updated at 6:39 pm IST the same day, calls the nine-time champions' match the tournament opener and says the side that starts it is a depleted, second-string squad.

Kickoff in the AIFF note is 15:00 IST. The Indian Express Q&A prints the same start as 3:00 pm IST. This preview uses those two reports only. It does not add a Pakistan squad list, a confirmed playing eleven, or a local Dhaka clock time the reports do not give.

The 60-second version

• Match: India vs Pakistan, SAFF Championship 2026, opening Group B fixture (AIFF). The Indian Express calls it the tournament opener.
• When and where: Thursday, 5 November 2026, 15:00 IST (3:00 pm IST), National Stadium, Dhaka.
• India stream: VETO OTT, website and app (The Indian Express). The AIFF says the Veto app. No live telecast in India, The Indian Express says, for the SAFF Championship.
• Other rights: Bangladesh: T-Sports (TV) and Bongo (digital). Pakistan: Myco (broadcast and OTT). All three from The Indian Express.
• Stakes: Nine-time champions, chasing a record-extending 10th title (The Indian Express). Defending champions, AIFF. India won the 2023 final against Kuwait in Bengaluru.
• Ranks and coaches: India 138, Pakistan 197 (AIFF). India coach Naushad Moosa. Pakistan coach Nolberto Solano, a former Peruvian international. Captain Abdullah Iqbal is Danish-born (The Indian Express).
• Head-to-head: 29 senior meetings, India 16 wins, Pakistan 4, 9 draws (AIFF). Last meeting: SAFF 2023, Bengaluru, India 4-0. Sunil Chhetri hat-trick, Udanta Singh Kumam the fourth. India have won 7 of the last 10 meetings since 2000 (The Indian Express).
• The squad split: Senior side on New Zealand friendlies under Khalid Jamil. ISL clubs reluctant to release players outside the FIFA window. 18 players available for the first game. The other 10 join after the international window opens on 9 November (The Indian Express). Moosa told the AIFF he has come with a young team for that reason.
• Next: India vs Maldives, 11 November, 15:00 IST. Semi-finals 14 November. Final 17 November (AIFF).

Time, ground, and where to watch

Both reports agree on the fixture facts that a viewer needs first.

Detail	What the 4 November reports say
Date	Thursday, 5 November 2026
Kickoff	15:00 IST (AIFF). 3:00 pm IST (The Indian Express)
Ground	National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Competition slot	Opening Group B fixture (AIFF). Tournament opener (The Indian Express)
India, online	Veto app (AIFF). VETO OTT website and app (The Indian Express)
India, television	No live telecast of the SAFF Championship in India (The Indian Express)
Bangladesh	T-Sports television, Bongo digital (The Indian Express)
Pakistan	Myco, broadcast and OTT (The Indian Express)

The AIFF names the Veto app and does not discuss television. The Indian Express is the source for "no live telecast" in India, and for T-Sports, Bongo, and Myco. The rights lines in that Q&A are about where the match can be watched. The no-telecast answer is worded for the SAFF Championship in India, not only for this one kickoff.

The 10th title, the ranks, and the two coaches

India won the previous edition in 2023, defeating Kuwait in the final in Bengaluru, the AIFF note says, and will look to retain the title. The Indian Express describes the Blue Tigers as nine-time champions chasing a record-extending 10th SAFF Championship title. The AIFF uses the same "record-extending 10th" line and calls this squad the defending champions.

FIFA rank, as the AIFF stated on 4 November 2026: India 138th, Pakistan 197th. The note does not give a separate ranking date beyond that article.

Naushad Moosa is India's head coach for this campaign. Pakistan, The Indian Express writes, are under Nolberto Solano, a former Peruvian international, and arrive with Danish-born captain Abdullah Iqbal. The same sentence says Pakistan arrive with improved form. That "improved form" is the paper's description. Neither report prints Pakistan's recent scores, so this page does not invent a form line beyond that attribution.

The senior national team head coach is a different person from Moosa. In the AIFF press-conference quotes, Moosa says one squad led by Khalid Jamil is travelling to New Zealand to play two friendlies. The Indian Express says the senior side is touring New Zealand for friendlies. Those are the same split, told by the coach and by the paper.

Head-to-head: 29 meetings, and a 4-0 in 2023

The AIFF record for senior internationals:

• 29 meetings.
• India 16 wins.
• Pakistan 4 wins.
• 9 draws.

Those three results add up to 29. The most recent meeting in the AIFF note was the SAFF Championship 2023 in Bengaluru, India 4-0. Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick. Udanta Singh Kumam scored the fourth goal.

The Indian Express uses a shorter recent window and the same 2023 match: India have won seven of their last ten meetings since 2000, including that 4-0 in Bengaluru, where it also credits Chhetri with the hat-trick. "Seven of the last ten since 2000" is not the same statistic as "16 wins from 29 meetings." Both can be true. This page keeps the all-time senior count with the AIFF and the since-2000 count with The Indian Express.

The Indian Express adds a judgment: with a second-string side taking the field, Thursday's contest could be far closer than the record suggests. That is the paper's reading of a weakened India, not a score prediction from the AIFF.

Why only 18 players are available on Thursday

The Indian Express account of the squad is the operational one:

• India begin the defence with a depleted, second-string squad.
• The senior side is touring New Zealand for friendlies.
• ISL clubs have been reluctant to release players outside the FIFA window.
• Only 18 players will be available to Moosa for the first game.
• The remaining 10 join once the international window opens on 9 November.

The AIFF quotes Moosa at the pre-tournament press conference in Dhaka on Wednesday. The AIFF article is dated 4 November 2026, and the match is on Thursday 5 November, so that Wednesday is 4 November 2026. He said he has come with a young team because of the New Zealand friendlies, with one squad led by Khalid Jamil travelling to play two games.

Moosa's words, as published by the AIFF:

"We are going to face a different Pakistan team compared to the one we faced in the last SAFF Championship, and we are definitely prepared for that. We would certainly like to win the match. I don't think there is any particular pressure. Rather, it is about having the motivation to give our best and put everything on the pitch. Hopefully, we can come away with a good result."

He also said the priority is the football, not the weight of the title:

"We are defending the title, and we are playing away from home, here in Bangladesh. As I said, I have come here with a young team because we also have friendly matches against New Zealand, with one squad (led by senior national team head coach Khalid Jamil) travelling there to play two games. What is important to me is that my players play with a free mind. I am not really worried about defending the title. What I am concerned about is playing good football. When the team plays good football, the results will follow."

The AIFF's own paraphrase of that second answer is that Moosa acknowledged the responsibility of defending the title away from home, and that his priority was for the team to focus on its football rather than the pressure of retaining the trophy. The quotations above are the lines the federation printed.

The squad list The Indian Express published

The Indian Express prints an India squad for the SAFF Championship 2026. It does not mark which 18 of those players are in Dhaka for the 5 November kickoff, and it does not name a starting eleven. Counting the names as printed gives 28 players, which matches 18 available now plus 10 to join after 9 November. That arithmetic does not identify the 18. The names below are the published squad, copied in the paper's spelling, not a predicted XI.

Goalkeepers (3): Arsh Anwer Shaikh, Mohanraj K, Priyansh Dubey.

Defenders (9): Abdul Rabeeh, Bijoy Varghese, Chinglensana Singh Konsham, Hmingthanmawia Ralte, Khaiminthang Lhungdim, Muhammed Uvais, Nathan Rodrigues, Ronney Kharbudon, Sandip Mandi.

Midfielders (11): Abhishek Suryavanshi, Adison Singh Thokchom, Brison Fernandes, Ebindas Yesudasan, Farukh Choudhary, Macarton Nickson, Manglenthang Kipgen, Nikhil Prabhu, Noufal PN, Ricky John Shabong, Suresh Singh Wangjam.

Forwards (5): Irfan Yadwad, Liston Colaco, Muhammad Suhail, Vishnu PV, Suhail Ahmad Bhat.

The AIFF preview does not publish this list. Pakistan's squad is not in either report. The only Pakistan names in the Indian Express preview are coach Nolberto Solano and captain Abdullah Iqbal.

Group B, Maldives, and the knockout dates

The AIFF draw note:

• Group B: India, Pakistan, Maldives.
• India's second and final group fixture: Maldives, 11 November, also at 15:00 IST. The note does not print a separate ground for that match. This page does not assume one.
• Group A: hosts Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan.
• The top two teams from each group qualify for the semi-finals.
• Semi-finals: 14 November.
• Final: 17 November.

No kickoff times for 14 or 17 November appear in the AIFF note used here. The Indian Express streaming story is about the 5 November match and does not add the later dates.

What to watch next

1. Thursday, 5 November, 15:00 IST, National Stadium, Dhaka. In India the stream is VETO OTT (website and app), and The Indian Express says there is no television telecast of the championship. The AIFF points viewers to the Veto app.
2. Who is actually on the grass. The Indian Express says 18 players are available for this first game and 10 more join after the window opens on 9 November. The published squad is 28 names. The paper does not say which 18 those are.
3. Moosa's "different Pakistan." He said India are prepared for a side unlike the one from the last SAFF Championship, and that he wants the players on a free mind rather than under title pressure. The last meeting was a 4-0 India win in Bengaluru in 2023.
4. The record versus the squad. AIFF: 16 wins, 4 defeats, 9 draws in 29 senior meetings. The Indian Express: 7 of the last 10 since 2000, and a warning that a second-string India could make this one closer.
5. Maldives, 11 November, 15:00 IST. That is India's other group game. By then, on the Indian Express timeline, the remaining 10 players should have become available, because the window opens on 9 November.
6. Semi-finals on 14 November and the final on 17 November, for the top two in each group. India are defending the title won against Kuwait in Bengaluru in 2023. The senior squad's two New Zealand friendlies, under Khalid Jamil, are a separate assignment from this group.

India start the SAFF defence against Pakistan at 15:00 IST on 5 November in Dhaka, on VETO in India, with no Indian television telecast on The Indian Express account. The side Moosa described in Dhaka is a young one, because the senior squad is on New Zealand friendlies, and only 18 players are available for the first match. The meetings favour India on both the AIFF count and the paper's since-2000 count. Moosa's line is that this Pakistan is a different team, and that he wants the football, not the title count, to come first.

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Match date, 15:00 IST kickoff, National Stadium in Dhaka, Group B, the Veto app, FIFA ranks (India 138, Pakistan 197), the 29-meeting head-to-head (India 16, Pakistan 4, nine draws), the 2023 Bengaluru 4-0 with Sunil Chhetri's hat-trick and Udanta Singh Kumam's goal, Naushad Moosa's press-conference quotes, Khalid Jamil's New Zealand trip of two games, India vs Maldives on 11 November at 15:00 IST, Group A (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan), semi-finals on 14 November, the final on 17 November, and India's 2023 final win over Kuwait in Bengaluru are from the All India Football Federation, "India begin SAFF Championship title defence against Pakistan in Dhaka," AIFF Media Team, 4 November 2026: https://www.the-aiff.com/article/india-begin-saff-championship-title-defence-against-pakistan-in-dhaka . The tournament-opener wording, 3:00 pm IST, VETO OTT on website and app, no live telecast in India, T-Sports, Bongo, Myco, the nine-time champions and record-extending 10th title, the depleted second-string squad, ISL clubs reluctant outside the FIFA window, 18 players for the first game and 10 more after 9 November, Nolberto Solano, Abdullah Iqbal, seven wins in the last ten meetings since 2000, and the India squad list are from The Indian Express Sports Desk, updated 6:39 pm IST on 4 November 2026: https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football/india-vs-pakistan-saff-championship-live-streaming-ind-vs-pak-10950624/ . "Improved form" and the line that Thursday could be closer than the record are that paper's characterisations. This page does not name a starting eleven, a Pakistan squad, shirt numbers, or kickoff times for the semi-finals and final, because those details are not in these two reports. The count of 28 names is a count of the Indian Express list, not a separate federation document.