The President's Gold Cup International Football Tournament kicked off at the National Stadium in Karachi on 7 March 1986. The teams competing included Nassaji Mazandaran from Iran, Shenyang Army Unit team from China, and Bangladesh. Three teams from host Pakistan included Pakistan XI captained by Shaukat Mufti,[2][3] President XI (also known as simply Sind) managed by former international captain Qadir Bakhsh and composed of several Pakistani international players,[4][5] and Pakistan Customs.[1]
On the opening day, President's XI defeated Bangladesh 4–1 after the teams were tied 1–1 at halftime. Substitute Din Mohammad put President's XI ahead 2–1 in the 58th minute, and despite a close attempt by Bangladesh in the 74th minute, goalkeeper Ishtiaq made a save. In the 78th minute, left-winger Ghulam Mohammad extended the lead to 3–1 with a solo effort, and seconds before the final whistle, forward Shaukat scored a long-range goal to seal the win.[6] The other match between Pakistan XI and Nassaji Mazandaran ended in a one-all draw, while the third match between Pakistan Customs and Shenyang Army Unit also ended in a 1–1 draw. Hung Qing Liang sent Shenyang Army Unit ahead in the 7th minute, but striker Ibrahim of Pakistan Customs neutralised the lead three minute later.[6]
On 11 March, Pakistan XI defeated Shenyang Army Unit by a solitary goal scored in the 40th minute through FidaUr Rehman off a pass from Abdul Majeed. In the other match of the day, Bangladesh were held to a 1–1 draw by Pakistan Customs after leading by a lone goal at the half time.[6]
On 12 March, the match between President's XI and Pakistan XI ended in a 1–1 draw. Pakistan was losing 1–0 to President's XI and in the last minute, Agha Saeed's goal equalized the match.[7] In an earlier encounter, Nassaji Mazandaran dominated Pakistan Customs by 3–0 to head the points table. However, the next day Bangladesh XI after a close contested match defeated Nassaji Mazandaran by a solitary goal. In the second match of the afternoon, the Shenyang Army Unit drew 1–1 with President's XI. After surrendering the advantage to the President's XI in the 63rd minute when left-winger Ghulam Sarwar deceived goalkeeper Song Zongsheng with a shot, they levelled in the 81st minute when President's XI were reduced to 10 men.[6]
On 14 March, Pakistan Customs held Pakistan XI to a goal-less draw. This changed the entire position of the tournament. President's XI had scored six points from five matches followed by Pakistan XI with five points from four encounters and Nassaji Mazandaran with five points from four games. However, Nassaji Mazandaran gained seven points by defeating the Shenyang Army Unit 2–1, while Bangladesh XI defeated Pakistan XI by a solitary goal. The Iranians earned a penalty kick a minute before the half time which was converted by Nader Dastneshan, who also scored the second goal in the 57th minute to put his team 2–0 in front.[6] The Shenyang Army Unit reduced the margin in the 72nd minute with Wang Gang scoring the goal. In the other encounter, Bangladesh surprised Pakistan with Shahinur Kabir Shimul scoring the goal in the 85th minute of the play. However, the Pakistanis disputed referee Abdul Shakur's decision as they claimed the deputy referee Israr Ali had raised the flag to signal the scorer off-side but the referee stood firm on its decision.[6]
Nassaji Mazandaran lifted the gold medal, while the President's XI took the silver medal with a superior goal average and Bangladesh earned the bronze.[6]Nader Dastneshan was named the tournament's top scorer.[8][9][10][11]
Nassaji Mazandaran (1st title)
President XI
Bangladesh
Shenyang Army Unit
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