Pakistan’s football team has traveled to Saudi Arabia to play their first match of the 2nd round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The 24-member squad was recently announced for the match against Saudi Arabia, as well as the home fixture against Tajikistan.
Observing the practice session at Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium today, one thing is clear, Pakistan is going to play with a formation of 4-4-2, or 4-4-1-1.
Pakistan’s first-choice center-back pairing of Eesah Suliman and Abdullah Iqbal delivered consecutive clean sheets against Cambodia in the 1st round of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Unfortunately, Eesah has suffered an injury that will keep him out of the upcoming two fixtures, so the likely replacement for him is Mamoon Moosa Khan.
Much hyped fan-favorite center-back Abdullah Shah wasn’t named in the 40-man training camp which has been going on for the past 7 days. Answering a question related to Shah, Pakistan’s head coach Stephen Constantine said that he wouldn’t give an opinion regarding a player who isn’t in the 40-man camp.
In a 4-4-2 formation against Cambodia at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad, Constantine played Shayak Dost as the left midfielder. Now, Constantine is spoilt for choice after the approval of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) for the eligibility of Otis Khan.
Otis Khan plays in the 4th tier of English football and is a much better-attacking option compared to Shayak. While giving an answer to a question where a comparison between Shayak and Otis happened, Constantine said that he didn’t like Shayak’s performance against Cambodia, but he also didn’t confirm who would play in the left midfield role.
According to sources, Moin Ahmed and Mohammad Waheed had to face Stephen Constantine’s wrath when they came late to a team meeting. Constantine doesn’t compromise on discipline which is why the three were omitted from the final 24-man squad. It should be remembered that Moin and Waheed started against Cambodia at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad.
Here is Pakistan’s predicted line-up:
Talking about Pakistan’s opponents Saudi Arabia, they are on an 8-match losing streak (7 losses and 1 draw against Nigeria). They are coached by the English Premier League-winning manager Roberto Mancini. Mancini was at the helm of affairs when Mario Balotelli assisted Sergio Aguero in the 94th minute of the last match of the 2011/12 Premier League (PL) season to win Manchester City their maiden PL.
Saudi’s run of poor results:
| Date | Fixture | Score | Result |
| 17 Oct | Saudi Arabia vs Mali | 1-3 | Loss |
| 13 Oct | Saudi Arabia vs Nigeria | 2-2 | Draw |
| 12 Sep | Saudi Arabia vs South Korea | 0-1 | Loss |
| 9 Sep | Saudi Arabia vs Costa Rica | 1-2 | Loss |
| 29 Mar | Saudi Arabia vs Bolivia | 1-2 | Loss |
| 25 Mar | Saudi Arabia vs Venezuela | 1-2 | Loss |
| 12 Jan | Saudi Arabia vs Oman | 1-2 | Loss |
| 9 Jan | Saudi Arabia vs Iraq | 0-2 | Loss |
Mancini is assisted by another City legend, three-time PL and two-time La Liga winner Yaya Toure. Toure serves as the assistant coach of Saudi Arabia’s football team.
Saudi Arabia’s football team is the only side that defeated Argentina in the previous edition of the FIFA World Cup. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while Saudi exited in the group stages.
Saudi Arabia is captained by Salman Al-Faraj. Faraj is both Al-Hilal and Saudi Arabia’s captain. Al-Faraj will be unavailable for this particular fixture due to an injury.
One fun fact from the Saudi-Argentina match is, that 10 out of 11 players starting for the Saudi team play for Saudi Arabia’s most decorated football club Al-Hilal.
Al-Hilal also employs the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ‘Player of the Year’ Salem al-Dawsari. Dawsari is the same player who scored the winner against Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He scored in the 64th minute to win the match 2-1.
Talking about the FIFA World Rankings, Saudi Arabia sits at 57th while Pakistan ranks 193rd. The two face each other on 16th November 2023, at Al-Fateh Stadium, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia. This will be the first match for both teams in the 2nd round of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Here are the rankings from Group G:
| Team | Asian Rankings | Overall Rankings |
| Saudi Arabia | 5 | 57 |
| Jordan | 12 | 82 |
| Tajikistan | 20 | 109 |
| Pakistan | 43 | 193 |
Pakistan doesn’t stands a chance of even a draw against KSA, let alone a win. However, Pakistan does have potential to surprise Jordan and Tajikistan provided Pakistan parks the bus.