KARACHI: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Normalisation Committee announced the preliminary camp squad on Friday for this month’s home fixture against Jordan.
The round two clash of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers will be held on March 21 at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad.
Pakistan squad
The final squad, which will also include overseas players, will be announced later.
Meanwhile, the PFF is awaiting clearance from FIFA over the inclusion of diaspora players, namely Adil Nabi and Mohammad Fazal.
Captain Easah Suliman is also set to make a comeback in the squad after recovering from injury.
Additionally, Stephen Constantine will continue as Pakistan coach for the upcoming matches.
The training camp is scheduled to begin in Lahore on Monday, March 11.
It must be noted that the PFF announced on its social media accounts last month that Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad will host the match.
However, the match will be played during daylight since the floodlights are yet to be installed.
Earlier, the PFF had stated that Islamabad's Jinnah Stadium falls short of FIFA standards.
In a statement released on January 22, the PFF conveyed that it is actively exploring alternative venues to ensure the game takes place at a neutral location.
"In collaboration with the Pakistan Sports Board, the Pakistan Football Federation has been dedicatedly working on preparing Jinnah Stadium for the upcoming March match against Jordan, following the successful," PFF stated.
"Regrettably, despite our best efforts, the current standard of Jinnah Stadium does not meet FIFA requirements," it added.
The PFF had also highlighted a significant challenge related to lighting conditions, stating, "as the March game is scheduled to be held under lights and coincides with Ramazan, meeting FIFA’s lighting standards with the current setup has posed difficulties”.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had also extended the deadline to confirm the venue for Pakistan’s home clash against Jordan but the floodlights issued could still not be resolved.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.