New Delhi: Pakistan’s celebrated cricketers turned into football commentators for a day when Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and Pakistanis have chosen sarcasm to deal with the “serious matter.” After the neighbouring country decided to host a football show with former cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Bazid Khan, social media users came up with a new tournament name—FUFA WC.
After Pakistan’s PTV introduced the show, the accent, the comments, everything is being scrutinised. But most of all: why are cricketers imparting opinions on a football panel?
Akhtar sparked widespread discussion online after appearing as a football analyst. While it was an unexpected choice to see a former cricketer analysing football on such a major stage, his opinions on the enduring Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate also got people talking.
Pakistani footballer and the captain of the Pakistan national team, Saddam Hussein, called it a ‘straight yorker in the face of the Pakistan football community”
“Having #ShoaibAkhtar on a football panel to break down the #MessivsRonaldo debate is absolute cinema. It is like delivering a straight Yorker right to the face of the #pakistanfootball community but honestly, it makes for incredibly entertaining the last episode,” he wrote on X.
For one X user, memes were now a reality.
“PTV thought why just leave it to memes, let’s turn it into reality,” the X user wrote. Others just declared him a boomer, a term used to refer to people from the older generation with outdated views.
Then came the sexists.
“Better ball knowledge than most of the girls,” one X user, Zoomi, added.
Akhtar’s ramble and accent were also scrutinised, but fans stayed loyal.
“I’ll tune in any day to hear Shoaib Akhtar waffling,” a Pakistani cricket fan page posted.
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‘Football deserves better’
The debate, however, soon crossed the border when indian cricket fans joined in.
“Funniest thing I saw on X today was Shoaib Akhtar being on a panel in Pakistan for the FIFA World Cup final and trying to talk football. That included him forgetting names of players, saying ‘woh kaun hai yaar’, strange diversion into brands.. hilarious shit even for Pak TV,” an X user who identified himself as Aadit Kapadia posted.
The commentary, too, did not go unnoticed.
“After ramiz raja’s historical “Ronaldo ka jo diet plan hai, woh NASA ke scientists plan karte hai” y’day Shoaib Akhtar said *messi ka gravitational force bahot behtareen hai*, another user noted.
Things got bad when the PTV executive director shared a post on X thanking all those who attended the show. An independent football website in Pakistan was quick to ask, “Would love to know the logic behind getting ex cricketers in for the final”
A podcast account, Backwards Point Po,d even created a fake scenario: “This is how I imagine this conversation to have gone. Anchor: So Shoaib, tell us about the FIFA WC Final. Shoaib Akhtar: If I had played under Imran Khan’s captaincy, I would have had 500 test wickets. Unfortunately, my knees were totally gone.”
One Pakistani X user simply declared, “Football deserves better”.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)