Pakistan moved to within one win of a place at the 2027 Polo World Cup on Friday, defeating arch-rivals India 7-4 in the Zone E qualifiers for the 13th FIP World Polo Championship at the Guards Polo Club in Abuja, Nigeria.
The victory was Pakistan’s second in as many matches in the qualifying tournament, after an opening 10-6 win over Iran earlier in the week. With back-to-back wins in the bag, Pakistan sit top of the four-team group, their fate firmly in their own hands heading into the final round.
Four teams are contesting the Zone E play-offs in Abuja: Pakistan, India, Iran and hosts Nigeria. Only the team that finishes first will book a place at the world championship, which is scheduled to be played in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from February 4 to 14, 2027. With only one spot available, every match counts, and Pakistan’s perfect start has given them a clear edge over their rivals.
Pakistan’s final group match comes against the hosts, Nigeria, on Sunday, November 15, and that game will decide which team finishes first and takes the qualifying place. Pakistan will go into it knowing that two wins have put them in command, but also that the hosts, playing in front of their own supporters in a tournament Nigeria is staging for the first time, will be desperate to spoil the party.
Beating India to reach a World Cup is familiar territory for Pakistan. The two sides have met with qualification on the line before, and Pakistan have usually come out on top when it mattered most. The most recent example came in September 2022, when Pakistan beat India twice in the space of a few days in Johannesburg, South Africa, winning 5-4 at the Inanda Polo Club and then 7-3 at the East Rand Polo Club to book their place at the 12th World Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida. Hamza Mawaz Khan was the hero of the second game, scoring six goals as Pakistan sealed qualification in style.
That 2022 campaign ended with Pakistan finishing fifth in the world, after an 11-8 win over Mexico in the placing match. Spain went on to lift the trophy, beating the United States in the final, but Pakistan’s fifth-place finish showed the team could compete with the best on the biggest stage. The current squad will be hoping that this week’s performances in Abuja are the first step towards going even further in Uruguay.
Pakistan’s history at the World Polo Championship stretches back more than two decades. The team first entered the qualifying rounds in 2003, when Lahore hosted a qualifying event, and has since reached the main championship on several occasions, including in 2011. In 2015, Pakistan qualified as regional champions after beating India in China, and went on to finish among the top six teams in the world at the championship in Chile, where they lost a tight group match 11-10 to the hosts. Captain Saqib Khan Khakwani said afterwards that being ranked among the six best teams in the world was an honour in itself.
The road to Uruguay runs through a global qualification system organised by the Federation of International Polo, the sport’s world governing body, which represents 86 national associations worldwide. The championship is played at the 10- to 14-goal level, and the qualifying tournaments are divided into zones. Zone E covers Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and the Abuja play-offs, running from November 9 to 16, are the zone’s only route to the finals. Argentina and Brazil have already qualified from Zone B, and Switzerland booked its place from Zone C after winning all three of its matches against England, Italy and France at Chantilly in France.
For Nigeria, hosting the Zone E play-offs is a milestone in itself. The Nigerian Polo Association, founded in 1925, is one of the oldest sporting bodies in the country, and the Abuja tournament is the first time Nigeria has staged this stage of World Cup qualifying. The country’s National Sports Commission has backed the hosting, seeing it as a chance to boost sports tourism in the capital, and the Guards Polo Club has been the centre of attention all week as the four teams battle for a single ticket to South America.
For Pakistan, the picture is now simple. Two wins from two matches, including a convincing victory over their biggest rivals, have left them one step away from a return to the World Cup. The players will know that the hardest part is often the last step, and Nigeria, roared on by a home crowd, will have every reason to believe they can cause an upset. But Pakistan have the momentum, the recent history of beating India when qualification is at stake, and a squad that knows what it takes to reach a world championship. One more performance of the same quality on Sunday, and Punta del Este awaits, with a chance to show once again that Pakistan belong among the best polo nations in the world.
