The Pakistan national under-17 football team is a youth football team operated under the Pakistan Football Federation. The team represents Pakistan in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup and the SAFF U-17 Championship, winning the latter's inaugural edition, and is yet to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
History
1990s In February 1992, Pakistan competed in the Coca Cola U-16 Cup in Thailand. Pakistan participated in the AFC U-16 Championship for the first time in 1992, finishing fourth in their five-team group at Rajshahi Stadium in Bangladesh in May 1992. The clash between Pakistan and Maldives ended in a 1–1 draw. In the 24th minute midfielder Mohammad Ayub scored for Pakistan until Maldives fought back and their striker Ahmad Saleh levelled the game. India beat Pakistan 2–0 in the second match. The Pakistanis played with 10 players when the referee sent right back Adeel Sarfraz Butt off in the 59th minute. Ajoy Singh scored first and the second goal came from a penalty in the 70th by Prosunjit Paul. Host Bangladesh booted Pakistan out of the tournament defeating them by one goal to nil, the solitary goal, netted by right winger Jahangir five minutes before the final whistle. Pakistan lost to Nepal 0–1 in their last match. Nepal's stopper back Gambir Rai scored the lone goal in the ninth minute from a penalty.
2000s Pakistan along with Yemen fielded eight and four overage players respectively at the 2002 AFC U-17 Championship after passing the qualifying round, and were fined and suspended for taking part in the next 2004 AFC U-17 Championship after the discovery.
2010s Pakistan participated in the inaugural SAFF U-16 Championship held in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2011 with Sajjad Mehmood as the head coach, Hassan Baloch as manager and Munir Aftab as the captain. It beat India 1–0 in its first match, before winning 6–0 versus Maldives to reach the semi-finals. Two late goals helped it beat Bangladesh, and thus qualify for the final, in which it beat India 2–1 to win the tournament. Mohammad Bilal was the tournament's top goalscorer with 4 goals, while striker Mansoor Khan was declared the tournament's best player. Overall, Pakistan scored 11 goals and conceded only one.
In September 2011 for its AFC U-16 Championship qualification campaign, the team retained the same 22-player squad that had won the previous year's SAFF U-16 Championship. It finished fourth in its six-team group, securing wins against Maldives (4–0) and Afghanistan (3–1), but losing against Kuwait (0–2), United Arab Emirates (0–2), and Yemen (0–4).
In March 2012, the Pakistan national under-16 team then participated in the 2012 KPT Challenge Cup as "National Youth B". Drawn into a group with senior teams WAPDA and Pakistan Navy, the young team lost 0–3 against the former, and 0–2 against the latter. In May, it participated in the National Under-22 Football Championship, where it drew 0–0 against Baloch Nushki and 1–1 against Sindh, thus topping group B. In the semi-finals, the youth team lost 0–2 against Pakistan Army. In July 2012, three under-16 players went to Abu Dhabi for a month-long training camp at the Manchester United Soccer Schools.
The under-16 team participated in the 2013 SAFF U-16 Championship held in Nepal, where it was eliminated in the group stage after finishing third in its group after 0–0 draws against both Afghanistan and Bhutan, and a 0–3 loss to Nepal. Sajjad Mehmood was the coach for these fixtures.
The team withdrew from the 2015 SAFF U-16 Championship due to conflicts among the government and the Pakistan Football Federation.
In October 2018, the under-15 team participated in the 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship held in Nepal. After victories against India, Bhutan and Nepal, until finishing runner-up in the final against Bangladesh, the team drew by 1–1 draw until finally losing in the penalty shootout. The team also participated in the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship qualification in 2019.
2020s After inactivity due to the three-and-a-half years Pakistan Football Federation's suspension by FIFA, the team played at the 2023 SAFF U-16 Championship and 2024 SAFF U-17 Championship, both times ending semifinalists. In 2025, at the 2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualification, the team ended second in the group stage and failed to qualify, but recorded a record 11–0 victory over Guam. In April 2026, the team participated at the UEFA Under-16 Development Tournament.
Coaching staff
PositionNameHead coach Muhammad EssaAssistant coaches Muhammad Arshad NadeemTeam manager N/AGoalkeeping coach Jaffar Khan
Current Squad The following 23 players were selected for the 2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualification.
Results and fixtures The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
2025
2026
Competition records
FIFA U-17 World Cup FIFA U-17 World Cup recordHost/YearResultPosition 1985 to
2015did not qualify 2017 to 2025did not enterTotal0/20–––––––
AFC U-17 Asian Cup AFC U-17 Asian Cup recordHost/YearResultPosition 1985 to 1990did not enter 1992did not qualify 1994did not enter 1996 1998did not qualify 2000 2002Group Stage10th301226 2004did not enter 2006 to
2014did not qualify 2016 to
2025did not enter 2026did not qualifyTotal1/19–301226
SAFF U-16 Championship
SAFF U-15/16/17 Championship recordHosts / YearResultPosition 20111/64400111 20135/7302103 2015Withdrew0/6000000 2017did not enter0/6000000 2018Runners-up2/64301112 2019did not enter0/6000000 2022did not enter0/6000000 2023Semi-Final3/6320163 2024Semi-Final3/74220116 2025Semi-Final3/74202117Total6/101 Title2213635022
Honours
SAFF U-17 Championship Champions: 2011 Runners-up 2018
See also Pakistan national football team Pakistan national under-23 football team Pakistan national under-20 football team
References
External links Pakistan Football Federation