Pakistan’s preparations for the SAFF Championship moved up a gear on Monday as the national football team opened its training camp in Islamabad, with head coach Nolberto Solano asking his players to carry their recent progress onto South Asia’s biggest stage. The Pakistan SAFF Championship campaign begins against India in Dhaka on November 5, and the squad now has a focused block of training to sharpen up before the tournament.
The camp began on Monday, October 26, according to a Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) press release, as Solano addressed the players ahead of their first session. The Peruvian, a former Newcastle United winger who was appointed Pakistan’s head coach in July 2025, has spent the past year working to give the national team a clearer identity and more regular international football. Solano also leads Pakistan’s under-23 side, which has given him a close view of the young talent coming through, and the Islamabad camp is the latest step in a deliberate build towards the regional championship.
Building on the FIFA ASEAN Cup Momentum
Solano’s message to the squad was simple: what the team showed at the FIFA ASEAN Cup in Indonesia must now become the starting point, not the peak. “We did very well at the FIFA ASEAN Cup, and now we need to build on that performance at the SAFF Championship,” the head coach told the players before training began.
Pakistan’s ASEAN Cup campaign was a story of growing belief. The team opened with a 4-0 defeat against Thailand, a harsh lesson against one of the region’s strongest sides. Instead of folding, Pakistan responded by holding the Philippines to a 2-2 draw, then pushed Vietnam hard before losing 4-2. Scoring twice against both the Philippines and Vietnam showed an attacking edge that Pakistan sides have often struggled to find in recent years.
The senior team’s progress also fits a wider pattern for the sport in the country. Earlier this month, Pakistan’s juniors made a historic FIFA World Cup debut at under-15 level in Baku, another sign that Pakistani football is finding more stages on which to test itself.
A New Face in the Backroom Team
The camp also brought a fresh addition to the coaching staff. Pakistan have welcomed Eduardo Seixas of Portugal as the team’s new strength and conditioning coach, and he joined the squad in Islamabad for the start of the camp. Seixas said he was looking forward to working with the team and helping the players achieve their goals.
A strength and conditioning coach is responsible for the physical side of preparation, from building players’ fitness for ninety minutes of high intensity football to managing recovery and reducing injury risk between matches. His arrival is well timed. Tournament football is demanding, and Pakistan’s two group matches fall just three days apart, against India on November 5 and the Maldives on November 8. Managing fitness and recovery across that schedule could prove just as important as tactics, and a specialist conditioning coach gives Solano’s staff an extra tool for the challenge ahead.
The Pakistan SAFF Championship Camp Squad
The PFF named 22 players for the Islamabad camp, drawn from across the field. In goal, Hassan Ali and Zulqarnain are the two keepers in attendance. The defensive group is the largest unit, with ten players: Mamoon Musa Khan, Haseeb Khan, Mohibullah, Waqar Baloch, Mohammad Adeel, Ali Khan, Haris Zeb, Junaid Shah, Abdul Rehman and Qadeer Khan.
Six midfielders are in camp: Umair Ali, Mohammad Junaid, Alamgir Ghazi, Hayyan Khattak, Zain-ul-Abideen and Tufail Shinwari. The forward line brings together Ibrahim Siddiqui, Najeebullah, Kaleemullah and Umar Nawaz, and it will be their job to turn the kind of chances Pakistan created at the ASEAN Cup into goals when the SAFF Championship begins.
The Road Ahead in Dhaka
The 2026 SAFF Championship, the 15th edition of South Asia’s premier national team tournament, will be hosted by Bangladesh from November 4 to 17, with matches at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. Pakistan have been drawn in Group B alongside defending champions India and the Maldives, and the Pakistan SAFF Championship group schedule could hardly be tougher at the start.
Pakistan open against India on Thursday, November 5, in one of the fixtures of the group stage, before facing the Maldives on Sunday, November 8. The top two teams in the group advance to the semi-finals, with the final set for November 17. Two strong results would take Pakistan into the last four, a stage the team did not reach at the previous edition in 2023, when they went out in the group stage in India. The belief built in Indonesia gives the squad reason to think that a semi-final place is within reach this time.
The camp also lands during a proud spell for Pakistani sport as a whole. The junior hockey team recently claimed silver at the Sultan of Johor Cup, while fighter Sherbaz Marri struck gold at the Nomad MMA Championship in Kazakhstan. Solano and his players now have the chance to add their own chapter when the Pakistan SAFF Championship journey begins in Dhaka.
Sources
- Pakistan begin training camp for SAFF Championship, FootballPakistan.com (PFF press release, October 26, 2026)
- Pakistan Begin Training Camp Ahead of SAFF Championship, Daily The Destination
- Bangladesh to host SAFF Championship 2026 from November 4 to 17, South Asian Football Federation
- 2026 SAFF Championship, Wikipedia (fixtures and venue)
- Photo: FootballPakistan.com (FPDC)
Umar is an engineer by profession and a passionate writer by passion. He has a deep interest in sharing good news related to Pakistan and has been working hard to promote the positive image of his homeland. Umar has written numerous articles on various topics related to Pakistan, such as technology, sports, culture, and economy.