Sullivan scores twice as Bangladesh beat Pakistan

Bangladesh youth team beat Pakistan in their first match of the SAFF -U20 Championship 2026 group stage.

US based the 18-year-old promising striker Ronan Sullivan to emerge 2-0 victory against Pakistan at the National Stadium in Male, Maldives on Tuesday.

Bangladeshi-origin brothers Ronan Sullivan and Decline Sullivan were in the spotlight even before the Pakistan match.

BD’s start of the match was not good. In the first half, it seemed like no one knew each other’s.

There was no understanding between them on the field! Bangladesh not played good football in the first half.

But that gap was no longer visible in the second half. So the Bangladesh Under-20 team scored quickly. Sullivan scored a brilliant goal from a free kick in the 54th minute.

The audience caught another glimpse of Ronan in the 67th minute. The forward celebrated by scoring a goal from Sheikh Sangram’s long cross.

With this win, the Bangladesh youth team has taken a big step towards the semi-finals with three points.

Bangladesh regularly plays in SAFF’s age-based tournaments. They first participated in 2015 and reached the semi-finals.

Since then, they have played a total of seven times at the under-18, 19 and 20 levels. Of these, they were champions once-in 2024.

Bangladesh will face a strong opponent India in the second and final match of the group stage on Saturday, who have participated in the SAFF age-based tournament seven times and have been champions four times.

Pakistan will now face a do-or-die scenario going into the blockbuster match against arch-rivals India on March 26.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, with the final scheduled for April 3.