Pakistan national under-23 football team

Pakistan Under-23

Nickname(s)	Green Shirts, Pak Shaheens
Association	Pakistan Football Federation
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	SAFF (South Asia)
Head coach	Nolberto Solano
Captain	Haseeb Khan
FIFA code	PAK
First colours Second colours
First international
Pakistan 0–1 Yemen   (30 August 1991)
Biggest win
Pakistan 4–0 Bhutan   (Colombo, Sri Lanka; 23 August 2006)
Biggest defeat
Pakistan 0–8 Bahrain   (Isa Town, Bahrain; 28 February 2007)
Asian Cup
Appearances	none
Asian Games
Appearances	5 (first in 2002 )
Best result	17/25 (2018)
South Asian Games
Appearances	3 (first in 2004 )
Best result	Gold Medal (2004, 2006)
Medal record Men's football South Asian Games 2004 Islamabad Team 2006 Colombo Team

The Pakistan U-23 national football team is a youth football team operated under the Pakistan Football Federation. The team represents Pakistan in international youth football competitions in the Summer Olympics, AFC U-22 Asian Cup, Asian Games and the South Asian Games (of which it has won the 2004 and 2006 editions), as well as any other under-23 and under-22 international football tournaments, such as the AFC U-23 Asian Cup. ^[1]

History

South Asian games

2004 South Asian Games

The under-23 side won the gold medal at the 2004 South Asian Games held across 3 venues in Pakistan from March 28 to April 6, 2004. The tournament was the first to introduce an under-23 tournament system for the football events. ^[2]

Muhammad Essa ended the tournament as top scorer and was player of the tournament, and helped Pakistan win the gold medal. ^[3] His goal in the semi final against Sri Lanka which ultimately ended in a 1-1 draw until the penalty shootout took Pakistan all the way to the final against India, where Abdul Aziz's goal gave Pakistan a 1–0 victory. ^[4]

2006 South Asian Games

In the 2006 South Asian Games held across in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 14 to 26 August 2006, Pakistan again won the gold medal. ^[5]

After advancing from the group stages, Essa's strike against Nepal led Pakistan to the final against Sri Lanka, which ended in a victory for the Green Shirts thanks to a goal by Adeel Ahmed in the half time. ^[5]

Summer Olympic Games

Pakistan first participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics Qualifiers, finishing last placed with Yemen, Qatar, UAE, and Iran within the group. ^[6] The team also participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics Qualifiers but failed to win any of their games.

In 2007, Pakistan thrashed Singapore in both the home and away legs by 2-1 and 3-2, ^[7] consecutively under the newly appointed head coach Muhammad Rashid, ^[7] and won the preliminary round of 2008 Summer Olympics first time in the history of Olympics.

Asian Games

The under-23 side participated in their first ever tournament during the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. They were put into a group with Kuwait, North Korea and Hong Kong. ^[8]

The team subsequently felt short participating in the 2006, 2010, and 2014 editions.

FIFA restored membership of PFF on 13 March 2018. ^[9] With Asian Games approaching in August, the team had very little time to prepare. PFF announced the signing of new Brazilian coach José Antonio Nogueira and started camps in Lahore. ^[10] Then, the under 23 team along with 3 senior players flew to Indonesia in mid August to take part in Asian Games. On 14 August 2018, the team played its first group game against Vietnam, the then runner ups of 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, which resulted in a 3–0 loss. On 16 August 2018, the team faced a loss against Japan by a scoreline of 4–0. Pakistan defeated Nepal by 2–1 in their final group game which was the former's first win in Asian Games after 44 years. ^{[11] [12]} Pakistan expected to qualify for knockouts being 3rd in the group. However, the team fell short in terms of Goal Difference.

Result and fixtures

Main article: Pakistan national under-23 football team results

For all previous match results of the national under-23 team, see the team's results page. The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win  Draw  Loss

2025

Iraq   v   Pakistan

3 September 2025 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification	Iraq	8–1	Pakistan	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
	Amoori Faisal 32' (pen.) Ali Jasim 47', 66', 72' Ahmed Ayyed 78', 90+4' Dhulfiqar Younnus 83' Ali Sadeq 85'	Report	Abdullah 61' (pen.)	Stadium: Olympic Stadium

Pakistan   v   Cambodia

6 September 2025 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification	Pakistan	v	Cambodia	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
				Stadium: Olympic Stadium

Oman   v   Pakistan

9 September 2025 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification	Oman	v	Pakistan	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
				Stadium: Olympic Stadium

Current staff

As of July 2025

Position	Name
Head coach	Nolberto Solano
Assistant coach	Gohar Zaman
	Mehmood Khan
Goalkeeping coach	Jaffar Khan
Fitness Coach	Jorge Castaneira
Physiotherapist	Muhammad Adnan
Masseur	Vacant
Kitmen	Vacant
Team manager	Shahzaib Khan

Players

Current squad

• The following players were called up for the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification. ^[13]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1 GK	Adam Najeeb Khan	(2005-10-24) 24 October 2005 (age 19)	0	0	Blackburn Rovers U21
20	1 GK	Hassan Ali	(2003-02-23) 23 February 2003 (age 22)	0	0	WAPDA
3	2 DF	Mohib Ullah	(2005-05-23) 23 May 2005 (age 20)	3	0	Karachi United
4	2 DF	Muhammad Haroon		0	0
5	2 DF	Haseeb Khan (Captain)	(2000-04-04) 4 April 2000 (age 25)	3	0	Pakistan Air Force
6	2 DF	Junaid Shah	(2003-03-23) 23 March 2003 (age 22)	0	0	SA Gardens
13	2 DF	Muhammad Adeel		0	0
15	2 DF	Ans Amin		0	0
19	2 DF	Abdul Rehman	(2008-02-25) 25 February 2008 (age 17)	0	0	POPO FC
23	2 DF	Hamza Munir	(2003-07-31) 31 July 2003 (age 22)	0	0	SA Gardens
2	3 MF	Adnan Justin		0	0
8	3 MF	Mohammad Hayan Khattak		1	0	POPO FC
12	3 MF	Ali Zafar	(2007-08-28) 28 August 2007 (age 18)	0	0	POPO FC
14	3 MF	Muhammad Junaid		0	0
18	3 MF	Tufail Shinwari		0	0	Karachi United
7	4 FW	Furqan Umar		0	0	Karachi United
9	4 FW	Adeel Younas	(2006-03-23) 23 March 2006 (age 19)	0	0	POPO FC
10	4 FW	McKeal Abdullah	(2005-07-07) 7 July 2005 (age 20)	0	0	Mansfield Town U21
11	4 FW	Ahmed Salman		0	0
16	4 FW	Suleman Ali		0	0
17	4 FW	Ali Raza		0	0
21	4 FW	Umair Bahader		0	0

Past squads

Asian Games

• 2002 Asian Games
• 2006 Asian Games
• 2010 Asian Games
• 2014 Asian Games
• 2018 Asian Games

South Asian Games

• 2004 South Asian Games

Competitive record

AFC U-23 Championship

AFC U-23 Championship was initially set to be held as AFC U-22 Championships in 2013 and its qualification matches in 2012, but the finals tournament was postponed to be played in January 2014. ^{[14] [15]}

AFC U-23 Championship record										AFC U-23 qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA
2014	did not qualify									5	0	1	4	0	8
2016										3	1	0	2	3	8
2018										did not enter
2020	Withdrawn									Withdrawn
2022	Suspended									Suspended
2024	did not qualify									3	0	0	3	2	11
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Totals	0/7	0 Titles	0	0	0	0	0	0		11	1	1	9	5	27

Olympic record

Summer Olympic Games record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1992	Did not qualify
1996
2000	Did not enter
2004	Did not qualify
2008
2012
2016
2020	to be determined
2024
2028
Total		0 / 7

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA
Senior National Team
1951 – 1998	See Pakistan national football team
Under-23 National Team
2002	Round 1	23	3	0	0	3	0	14
2006	Round 1	21	3	0	0	3	2	6
2010	Group stage	22	3	0	1	2	0	8
2014	Group stage	24	2	0	1	1	0	3
2018	Group stage	17	3	1	0	2	2	8
2022	Did not enter
Total	5/6	-	11	1	1	9	4	31

South Asian Games

South Asian Games record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2004	Champions	5	4	0	1	6	1
2006	Champions	5	4	0	1	9	4
2010	Group stage	3	0	0	3	5	2
2016	Did not enter
2019	Did not enter
Total	3/5	13	8	0	5	20	7

Honours

• South Asian Games
  • Champions (2): 2004, 2006

See also

• Pakistan Football Federation
• Pakistan national football team
• Pakistan national under-20 football team
• Pakistan national under-17 football team
• Pakistan women's national football team

References

1. "Pakistan U23". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
2. "9th South Asian Federation Games 2004 (Pakistan)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
3. "9th South Asian Federation Games 2004 (Pakistan)". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
4. "Pakistan win SAF football - Rediff.com". m.rediff.com. 6 April 2004.
5. "Pakistan defeat Lanka for football gold in SAF". Hindustan Times. 28 August 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
6. "Games of the XXV. Olympiad - Football Qualifying Tournament". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
7. Ahsan, Ali (2 February 2011). "A history of football in Pakistan — Final part". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
8. "Asian Games 2002". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
9. "FIFA lifts suspension of Pakistan Football Federation". 15 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
10. "FIFA lifts suspension of Pakistan Football Federation". 15 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
11. "Asian Games football: Pakistan bag first victory after 44 years". The Express Tribune. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
12. "Saddam laments lack of earnings for Pakistan footballers". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
13. "Pakistan announce squad for AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers". The Express Tribune. 29 August 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
14. "Call to improve AFC competitions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
15. "Competitions Committee takes key decisions". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2019.

External links

• Pakistan Football Federation