Afghanistan players celebrate joyously after a hard-fought win vs England in 2025 Champions Trophy [Watch]

Afghanistan players and their support staff were elated after their team's win against England in the 2025 Champions Trophy on Wednesday, February 26. The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore hosted this thrilling contest. With the win, Afghanistan kept their semi-final hopes alive, while England, like Pakistan and Bangladesh, were eliminated.

Ibrahim Zadran played a marathon knock of 177 (146) to power the Afghan team to 325/6 in the first innings. Azmatullah Omarzai then picked up a five-wicket haul in the second innings to help the Asian side restrict England to 317 runs in 49.5 overs to win the match.

Joe Root fought a lone battle for the English team with a century, but none of the others supported him well, which dented their chances in the chase.

The Afghanistan contingent was over the moon after securing a memorable triumph. They celebrated joyously on the ground after the final wicket. The ICC shared a video on Instagram to give a glimpse of it.

You can watch the winning moment and celebrations in the video below:

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"We know the entire nation will be happy" - Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi after win vs England in 2025 Champions Trophy

At the post-match presentation, Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi expressed satisfaction with the team's performance and said that their fans back home would also be happy after witnessing it. Reflecting on the win, Shahidi said:

"As a team we are happy and we know the entire nation will be happy. It tastes nice. Moving onto the next game. First time we beat them in the 2023 World Cup. I keep saying that we are improving day by day as a team. That's what we showed in the last couple of World Cups. Today it was a tense game but we controlled it really well."

He continued:

"Everyone knows their role. Everyone's doing good and hopefully we take this momentum with us for the next game against Australia and do well. It will give us a lot of confidence but at the same time it will be a new day for both teams. That game will decide who will go to the semifinal. We will focus on what we can control. What's good for us, we will try to do that."

Afghanistan will square off against Australia in their final group match on Friday, February 28, in Lahore.