KARACHI: Pakistan begin their training camp for the upcoming 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Syria from Thursday, the Pakistan Football Federation Normalisation Committee has said.

Pakistan are due to to face the Syrians in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahsa in their Group ‘E’ opener on March 25. Afghanistan and Myanmar are the other teams in the group with the winner to seal a berth at the Asian Cup.

The national team is back in contention to qualify for the Asia’s premier national team tournament after global football body FIFA lifted the suspension on the PFF earlier this month.

Pakistan have never qualified for the Asian Cup and they have a tough job at hand to reach the tournament proper.

Stephen Constantine, who led Pakistan past the first round of qualifying for the first time in their history, is back as head coach although his tenure is currently till the Syria fixture.

For now, only the local-based players will be attending the training camp with the foreign-based players to join the team in Saudi Arabia before the game.

“The training camp will initially be led by Sajjad Mehmood along with Nouman Ibrahim as goalkeeper coach and Muhammad Ali Khan as fitness trainer with head coach Stephen Constantine taking charge upon his arrival in Pakistan,” said the PFF NC in a statement. “The camp will later be shifted to Saudi Arabia for the final phase of preparations ahead of the encounter against Syria.”

Probables: Goalkeepers: Yousuf Butt, Saqib Hanif, Abdul Basit, Adam Khan; Defenders: Abdullah Iqbal, Easah Suliman, Haseeb Khan, Junaid Shah, Mamoon Moosa, Mohammad Fazal, Abdul Rehman, Waqar Ihtisam; Midfielders: Alamgir Ghazi, Ali Uzair, Ali Zafar, Mohammad Umar Hayat, Rahis Nabi, Toqeer ul Hassan, Umair Ali and Moin Ahmed; Forwards: Fareedullah, Harun Hamid, Imran Kayani, Mckeal Abdullah, Abdul Samad, Shayak Dost, Mohammad Adeel Younas.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2025