The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) announced a 20-member playing squad for Pakistan to participate in the upcoming UEFA U16 Development Tournament from April 24-30 in Kazakhstan.
A mixture of current Pakistan U17 internationals who took part in last year’s SAFF U17 Championship and AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifiers, as well as some new inclusions following open trials in early April 2026, are in the squad.
Former Pakistan captain Muhammad Essa Khan has been appointed head coach of the menâs under-16 side. Muhammad Arshad and Muhammad Nadeem have been named assistant coaches with Jaffar Khan as goalkeeping coach.
This will be the first time Pakistan will take part in a UEFA-sanctioned event. Pakistan U16s will face Russia, Azerbaijan and hosts Kazakhstan at the Namys Stadium Biik Sports Complex in Shymkent.
The tournament presents a significant opportunity for Pakistanâs emerging generation to gain high-level international exposure against UEFA-affiliated nations.
PFF President Syed Mohsen Gilani said: âAccess to European competition at this level has historically been out of reach for our young players, and that is a gap we are determined to close. The U-16 age group is where footballers begin to define themselves. This is exactly the kind of tournament where our boysâ character will be tested. And it is exactly the kind of platform we want to provide consistently to our youth teams, because you cannot build world-class players by keeping them local.â
The squad departed from Karachiâs Jinnah International Airport and will reach Almaty, Kazakhstan tonight.
Pakistan squad:
Goalkeepers: Samar Razzaq, Naveed Ullah
Defenders: Muhammad Alam, Hamza Amjad, Maqbool Ahmed, Nadeem Hussain, Abdul Raheem Elahi, Syed Manzar Shah
Midfielders: Muhammad Mustafa, Muhammad Essa Jr, Sagar Mehrban, Haroon Rasheed, Shahraz Khan, Abdul Samad Khan, Hamza Yasir, Muhammad Hanzala
Forwards: Danish Masih, Muhammad Rafay, Kaleem Ullah
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