ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on Friday named the 14-member squad for the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival 2026, which will be held in Azerbaijan.
The tournament marks a historic milestone for Pakistan football, with this being the first Pakistani squad to participate in a FIFA World Cup event.
The players earned their places among the country’s top young talents through their performances at the PFF National U-17 Championship 2026.
Accoding to the PFF, the festival will provide the young Shaheens with valuable international experience, exposing them to different footballing cultures and giving them the opportunity to represent Pakistan on the global stage.
Pakistan will depart for the tournament Baku from Islamabad on 20 October.
For those unaware, the inaugural edition of the FIFA U15 World Cup and Festival will pave the way for FIFA to establish the competition as a fixture of the international game, with the first girls’ tournament scheduled for next year.
Both girls’ and boys’ tournaments are then planned to take place annually from 2028.
The tournament has attracted teams representing 191 nations who will initially be split into 32 groups.
The winners of each round-robin group will qualify for a Tier A competition while the other teams in each group will go forward to compete in one of five other performance tiers based on qualification stage results.
Nearly 1000 games are due to be played across six matchdays at the Hovsan Competition Complex in Baku, with the opening match and tier finals on 30 October scheduled to take place at the Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan’s capital city.
The competition will feature an 8v8 format with 20-minute halves designed to maximise player development and match experience.
Pakistan Squad:
1. Shayan Abdul Jabbar Marwat 2. Muhammad Salman 3. Muhammad Alam 4. Maqbool Ahmed 5. Shahraz Khan
6. Rameez Riza 7. Ameer Hamza 8. Muhammad Mustafa 9. Ilhan Khan Ali 10. Bakshi Hamal Khan 11. Owais Faiz
12. Zain ul Abideen 13. Danish Masih 14. Kaleem Ullah