The Pakistan Football Federation has named a 28-member squad for the 2026 SAFF Championship in Bangladesh, but several key players will miss the opening matches. The squad was announced nearly a day after most players had already left for Bangladesh, where the championship runs from November 5 to 17; the delay, together with a club release dispute, has given Pakistan’s campaign an untidy start before a ball has been kicked.
The headline problem concerns four regular starters. Captain Abdullah Iqbal, defender Easah Suliman, and wingers Abdul Samad Arshad and Ali Akbar Khan have all been included, but will only become available if Pakistan reach the semifinals. Their clubs declined to release them early because Pakistan’s group matches, against India on November 5 and Maldives on November 8, fall outside the November FIFA international window, when clubs are obliged to free their players. Pakistan must therefore begin without men who would ordinarily walk into the starting eleven.
Pakistan are not short of absentees elsewhere either. Otis Khan and Harun Hamid remain unavailable, while Mohammed Fazal, Abdullah Shah and Ali Agha have been ruled out through injury or fitness concerns. That has forced the selectors to look deeper, opening the door for returns: Zainul Abideen Ishaque, Haseeb Ahmed Khan, Junaid Shah and Tufail Khan Shinwari are all back, McKeal Abdullah returns after last representing Pakistan in 2025, and midfielder Muhammad Junaid and striker Najeebullah earn first senior call-ups after impressing at the SAFF Under-20 Championship in the Maldives earlier this year.
The timing of the announcement adds to the sense of a campaign assembled on the move. Most of the squad had already departed for Bangladesh before the list was made public, hardly ideal for a tournament that begins almost immediately. Players thrive on clarity, and a late announcement does little to build it. The coaching staff must now weld the group together quickly in Dhaka, with India looming as a stern opening test.
Pakistan’s recent form offers little comfort but some encouragement. At the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup in Indonesia during the September-October window, Pakistan lost 4-0 to Thailand, drew 2-2 with the Philippines, and ended their Group B campaign with a 4-2 loss to Vietnam: moments of promise mixed with heavy defeats, and a side still searching for consistency. The SAFF Championship offers a more forgiving stage, against regional rivals, and that may suit a squad in transition.
The tournament will be staged at the National Stadium in Dhaka, with the semifinals on November 14 and the final on November 17. Pakistan are in Group B with India and Maldives, while Group A brings together hosts Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Nepal will not take part, after the All Nepal Football Association was suspended by FIFA over governance issues. The equation is straightforward: survive a short group stage, quite possibly without their captain and other key men, and the reinforcements arrive for the knockout rounds. It is a strange way to enter a tournament, but the squad’s depth will be tested from the very first whistle.
Pakistan’s Squad for the SAFF Championship
In goal are Saqib Hanif, Hassan Ali and Yousuf Butt; the defence includes Abdul Rehman, Abdullah Iqbal, Ali Khan Niazi, Easah Suliman, Haris Zeb, Haseeb Khan, Mamoon Moosa Khan, Mohibullah Afridi and Waqar Ehtisham Baloch. In midfield are Junaid Shah, Adil Nabi, Ali Uzair, Hayyaan Khattak, Tufail Khan Shinwari, Zainul Abideen Ishaque, Muhammad Junaid and Ali Akbar Khan, while the forwards are Abdul Samad Arshad, Alamgir Ghazi, Kaleemullah, McKeal Abdullah, Najeebullah, Shayak Dost and Umar Nawaz. It is a large squad, and its size reflects the uncertainty around availability as much as the desire for options.
Team Officials
Head coach Nolberto Solano leads the team, assisted by Titus Bramble and Walid Javaid. Shahzaib Ahmed Khan is team manager, Zahid Taj looks after the goalkeepers, Muhammad Adnan is physiotherapist, and Asghar Khan Anjum travels as technical observer. Solano, a former Peru international, must turn a disrupted build-up into a coherent tournament performance; his handling of the early matches, when his best players are absent, may define Pakistan’s campaign.
The wider significance goes beyond one trophy. South Asian football has long struggled for attention and investment compared with cricket, and the SAFF Championship remains the region’s main shop window. For Pakistan, where football’s potential has always seemed greater than its results, a strong showing would lift the domestic game and reward players who kept faith through difficult years. A poor showing would invite familiar questions about planning, preparation and the structures behind the national side.
Much depends on the opening week. If the makeshift side can hold India and Maldives, or at least stay in contention until the semifinal stage, the returning stars could transform the team for the knockout rounds. If the group stage goes badly, the late arrivals will count for nothing. Either way, the campaign begins with a test of character as much as skill, and the 28 men in Dhaka carry the hopes of a football community that has waited a long time for something to celebrate.
