LAHORE: Pakistan men’s Under-20 head coach Shehzad Anwar on Tuesday named a 26-member preliminary squad for the upcoming SAFF Under-20 Championship.

The tournament will be staged in the Maldives from March 23 to April 3, with Pakistan placed in Group ‘B’ alongside Bangladesh and India.

Pakistan will begin their campaign against Bangladesh on March 24 before taking on India two days later. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

“We have tried our best to assemble a competitive side that can hopefully produce positive results at the SAFF Under-20 Championship,” Shehzad said.

The players are currently undergoing training at Islamabad’s Jinnah Stadium, with the squad finalised following week-long trials.

Preliminary squad:

Goalkeepers: Zulqurnain (Landikotal), Adil Ali Khan (Islamabad), Kashif (South Waziristan), Ghulam Abbas (Sargodha); Defenders: Umar Javed (Swabi), Zarib Haider (Parachinar), Majid Ali (Faisalabad), Waseem Abdul Rasheed (Karachi), Ubaid Ullah (Bhakkar), Abdul Khaliq (Chaman), Abdur Rehman (Faisalabad), Aabis Raza (Layyah), Sheraz Khalid (Karachi); Midfielders: Ali Zafar (Quetta), Zain Imran (Melbourne), Shahab Ahmed (Chitral), Khubaib (Bannu), Owais Ilyas (Karachi), Junaid (D.I. Khan), Mansoor Khan (Islamabad); Forwards: Najeeb Ullah (Bhakkar), Abdul Samad (Swat), Sajjad Hussain (Quetta), Abdullah (Rawalpindi), Faham (Islamabad), Umar Nawaz (Peshawar/UK).

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026