Early years (1950s) on 30 October 1950 Shortly after the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the
Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) was created, and
Muhammad Ali Jinnah became its first Patron-in-Chief. PFF received recognition from
FIFA in early 1948. However, for reasons that remain unclear, the team ultimately did not participate in the tournament. In 1950, Pakistan faced
Iran in their first official international game in
Tehran on 27 October 1950, losing the game 5–1, with
Abdul Wahid Durrani scoring the lone goal for Pakistan. The match also took place during the Shah of Iran's birthday celebrations. Reportedly the Pakistan national team played the match barefoot, which was the norm back in South Asia. Pakistan's next international outing came in the
1952 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament where the team finished as joint champions alongside
India after finishing with the same points in the table. Pakistan was awarded the shared trophy for the first six months after winning a coin toss. The same year, Pakistan played a
friendly against
Iran in home venue, with the match ending in a goalless draw. The team made its first appearance at the
1954 Asian Games in
Manila,
Philippines, where
Masood Fakhri had most notably become the first Pakistani player to score a
hat-trick in an international match
, as Pakistan thumped
Singapore 6–2 in a group match. national teams for the
1958 Asian Games pictured with
Tunku Abdul Rahman before their participation in the tournament The
Pakistan Football Federation became one of the 13 founding members of the
Asian Football Confederation on 8 May 1954. Initially scheduled to play against
Israel in the inaugural
1956 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, the team withdrew along with
Afghanistan due to reluctance to host the Israeli team. The same year, the team toured
Ceylon,
Singapore, and
China, and two years later featured at the
1958 Asian Games held in
Japan. In 1959 after a tour to
Burma, Pakistan finally decided to participate in the
1960 Asian Cup qualifiers hosted by
India in
Kerala, where Pakistan faced
Iran,
India and
Israel twice each in the qualifiers.
Emergence (1960s) Pakistan had participated in various friendly tournaments in the early 1960s, with the
Merdeka Cup hosted in Malaysia after the country first participation in
1960. Pakistan recorded a 7–0 victory over
Thailand, and a 3–1 win over
Japan. Two years later in the
1962 Merdeka Tournament, Pakistan ended runner up after falling to
Singapore by 1–2 in the final. During the
China national team tour in Pakistan in 1963, the first test in
Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) ended in a 0–0 tie. The second match in
Peshawar ended in a 3–2 victory for Pakistan, with the third fixture in
Lahore ending in another 1–1 draw. The final fourth match in
Karachi ended in a 2–0 defeat for Pakistan. Months later, Pakistan lost their
Asian Cup qualifiers against
Burma and
Cambodia and drew their final match against
India. Pakistan also entered the 1968
Merdeka Tournament, but did not feature in it, withdrawing earlier before the tournament started. They then hosted the second
1967 RCD Cup and finished third. In 1969, they travelled to
Iran to take part in the
1969 Friendship Cup, in which they had a 2–1 win against
Iraq and a record 9–1 defeat by
Iran. This was before another disappointment at the
1969 and
1970 RCD Cup editions. Despite the game's growth in the 1960s, Pakistan did not actively participate in the Asian Games football tournaments held in
1962,
1966, and
1970 due to financial constraints. The World Cup qualifiers followed a similar pattern, with Pakistan missing crucial matches because of a lack of interest from the federation and insufficient government support. The team also competed in the next tournament, finishing last place, however, securing a win against arch-rivals
India. |left In 1978, Pakistan participated in the "Saudi Arabia Football Federation International Tournament", the team lost their first match against
Saudi Arabia 0–6. The following match against
South Korea B ended in another loss, with a scoreline of 0–5, the final match against
Kenya ended in 3–8 defeat.
Resurgence (1980–1990) After several years of competitive football inactivity, the national team was invited for the 1981
Merdeka Tournament, however, the team declined the invitation, withdrawing from the tournament. Instead, they participated in the
1981 King's Cup, Pakistan secured a goalless draw against
Semarang from
Indonesia. After a loss to
Thailand, they gained a 3–2 victory against
Malaysia and although they lost a close game against
1 August from China, they were able to win 1–0 in their final game against
Singapore. The national team hosted another
1985 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament, this time inviting North Korea XI, Indonesia Youth,
Bangladesh and
Nepal. A goalless draw against the North Koreans boosted the side, as they beat
Nepal by one goal. However, they lost in the final two games against
Bangladesh and Indonesia. In the
1985 South Asian Games, Pakistan ended fourth after losing a penalty shoot out to
Nepal in the third place match. After participating at the
1986 Fajr International Tournament in Iran, the team finished runners-up at the
1986 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament involving
China,
Sri Lanka,
Nepal and a South Korean XI. In the
1986 Asian Games, Pakistan lost all their games. {{football squad on pitch|align=left In 1987 after an unsuccessful campaign at the
1988 Summer Olympics Qualification against Nepal at away venue, the side was more successful at the
1987 South Asian Games, winning the bronze medal match against
Bangladesh 1–0. In 1988, after losing the
1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Pakistan began with their first ever participation for the
1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for Italy in January and February, losing all matches. The national team bounced back, when several months later they took gold at the
1989 South Asian Games, beating
Bangladesh 1–0 in the final, from a solitary goal by
Haji Abdul Sattar in the dying minutes of the game.
Decline (1990s–present) {{football squad on pitch|align=right Pakistan had another early exit in the
1990 Asian Games, losing all three games. In the
1991 South Asian Games however, Pakistan beat the
Maldives in the final 2–0 to win their second gold, from goals scored by
Qazi Ashfaq and
Muhammad Nauman Khan. In 1992, the team lost all matches at the
1992 AFC Asian Cup qualification and the
1992 Jordan International Tournament. After again ending unsuccessful at the
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification in 1993, the team hosted the inaugural
1993 SAARC Gold Cup in
Lahore, finishing fourth. At the
1993 South Asian Games, they were unable to get past the group stage. Pakistan went out of the
1995 SAARC Gold Cup group stage on goal difference. The team lost all their
Asian Cup and
World Cup qualifying games. Pakistan came third in the
1997 SAFF Cup, thanks to a 1–0 victory over Sri Lanka in the third place playoff. The
1999 SAFF Cup saw Pakistan finish bottom of their group, and Pakistan also failed to get out of the group stage of the final
1999 South Asian Games to hold full internationals. In 2002, Pakistan played in an unsuccessful four match series against Sri Lanka. At the
2003 SAFF Cup, under the inspiration of the attacking midfielder
Sarfraz Rasool, Pakistan stunned India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in three victories as they reached the semi-finals only to fall short against Maldives by 1–0. followed by the reach in the semi-finals of the
2005 SAFF Cup, losing against defending champion
Bangladesh by 0–1 margin. The Pakistan team lost their first two
Asian Cup qualifiers in 2006, in between which they took part in the first
2006 AFC Challenge Cup. They failed to get past the group stage, but beat Kyrgyzstan 1–0. Back at the Asian Cup qualifiers, they lost their remaining fixtures. In the
2010 World Cup qualifiers in 2007, they fell to a heavy defeat by the Asian champions
Iraq, losing 7–0 on aggregate across the two legs after drawing 0–0 in the second round. In 2008, Pakistan travelled to
Nepal for two friendlies before taking on the
2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification. Although they won against
Chinese Taipei 2–1 in the first match, and beat
Guam in a record-equalling 9–2 win in the final match, other results, including a 7–1 defeat to Sri Lanka, saw them again fail to reach the finals. In the
2008 SAFF Championship, Pakistan failed to go beyond the group stages, losing to Maldives 3–0, India 2–1 and Nepal 4–1, which signalled the end of
Akhtar Mohiuddin's tenure as head coach. After Mohiuddin's departure,
George Kottan was hired and the veteran tactician took the team to the
2009 SAFF Championship. The side were defeated 1–0 by Sri Lanka, before drawing 0–0 with Bangladesh as
Adnan Ahmed missed a late penalty to seal a win. Pakistan won against
Bhutan 7–0 in their last game. Kottan was soon sacked in February 2010, Pakistan had no senior games during the entire calendar year. For the
2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification in 2011, coach
Tariq Lutfi was called up once more and failed to deliver. Defeats such as the 3–0 against
Turkmenistan and 3–1 against India meant that the side were already out of the qualifiers despite beating Chinese Taipei by 2–0. Later in the
2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in July, Pakistan lost 3–0 to Bangladesh in Dhaka, before earning a 0–0 draw in Lahore a few days later. Pakistan did not qualify for the
2014 FIFA World Cup, being eliminated by Bangladesh in the first round of the AFC qualifying section in 2011, losing 3–0 on aggregate. That saw the end of Lutfi's reign, with Serbian coach
Zaviša Milosavljević taking over in November 2011 right before the
2011 SAFF Championship. Despite having little time to influence the team, Zavisa managed to hold Bangladesh 0–0, Maldives 0–0 and Nepal 1–1 in the India-hosted 2011 SAFF Championship. However, they were unable to progress into the semi-finals and returned home. 2012's sole game was witnessed in November against
Singapore, who thrashed Pakistan 4–0 at home. Pakistan started 2013 well, winning two games against Nepal with identical 1–0 margins. A 1–1 draw with Maldives followed, but with congested fixtures Pakistan ended up losing the last game 3–0 in Male. Pakistan then played the
2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification in Bishkek, losing out 1–0 to
Tajikistan in injury-time.
Pakistan also lost 1–0 against the Kyrgyzstan after scoring in the 1st minute, but comfortably beat
Macau 2–0. Pakistan played a friendly against
Afghanistan in August, losing 3–0 without their foreign-based players. Coach Zaviša Milosavljević was controversially sacked and replaced by Bahrain's
Mohammad Al-Shamlan, who acted as a coaching consultant to
Shahzad Anwar in the
2013 SAFF Championship. The Shaheens lost their first game 1–0 to India after an own-goal from
Samar Ishaq. Against hosts Nepal,
Hassan Bashir scored an early goal, only to see 15-year-old
Bimal Gharti Magar level things in injury-time. However, Pakistan beat Bangladesh 2–1 but failed to advance to the semi-finals. The team participated at the
2013 Philippine Peace Cup at the end of the year. For Pakistan's campaign for the
2018 FIFA World Cup, they were to face
Yemen in
Round 1 in the
AFC qualifying section. In the first match, Pakistan lost 3–1. For the second match, Pakistan drew 0–0, eliminating Pakistan from the tournament on aggregate.
Inactivity and FIFA suspensions (2015–2022) Pakistan was suspended from all football activities by FIFA on 10 October 2017, after the controversial tenure of the PFF president and politician
Faisal Saleh Hayat, widely described as a "feudal lord of Pakistani football". at the
2018 SAFF Championship FIFA restored membership of PFF on 13 March 2018. Pakistan went to Bangladesh to take part in
2018 SAFF Cup which started in September 2018 which was their first FIFA recognised tournament after a span of 3 years. Pakistan lost its next match to hosts Bangladesh by 1–0 after conceding a late goal. Green shirts played their final group game against Bhutan which ended in a 3–0 win and sealed their place in semis after 13 years. Pakistan faced arch rivals India in semi-final and were ultimately knocked out by 3–1. After the SAFF Cup, Pakistan negotiated with the Palestine Football Association for a friendly. It was initially reported that the match will be played in Lahore, Pakistan on 15 November 2018 but Palestine decided to host the event afterwards. Due to visa issues, Pakistan team couldn't fly to Palestine on the desired date. So, the match was played on 16 November in which Shaheens lost by 2–1. Disappointment would soon strike again as Pakistan lost its chance to pass the
2022 FIFA qualification, losing against
Cambodia twice in the first round and was eliminated. The preliminary camp for the matches were controversially organised by two different federations.
Faisal Saleh Hayat-led
Pakistan Football Federation, which was internationally recognised, and non-FIFA recognised Ashfaq Hussain Shah group, which formed a parallel PFF, coming into power by third-party interference through the PFF elections conducted by the
Supreme Court. Pakistan were once again suspended from all football activities by FIFA on 7 April 2021. The suspension was lifted on 29 June 2022.
Comeback to International Football (2022–2024) Pakistan made their comeback by playing a friendly match against
Nepal in November 2022, losing 0–1 in a late minute goal. They played a second friendly match against
Maldives in March 2023 losing 0–1. Pakistan subsequently took part in the
2023 Mauritius Four Nations Cup featuring
Mauritius,
Kenya,
Djibouti and the
2023 SAFF Championship alongside
India,
Kuwait and Nepal in the group stages, losing all six matches and finishing last in their group in each competition. On 27 July 2023, the draw for the first round of the
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification took place in which Pakistan were drawn once again against
Cambodia, followed by the appointment of the English coach
Stephen Constantine. In the first leg in
Phnom Penh, Pakistan contested in a goalless 0–0 draw. Pakistan won their second leg beating Cambodia 1–0 in
Islamabad, due to a goal by
Harun Hamid, recording their first-ever victory in World Cup qualifiers in their first fixture at home for eight years, and qualifying for the second round for the first time. Following the victory in Islamabad, the Shaheens were drawn in a group with
Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, and
Tajikistan. Being the 193rd ranked team, Pakistan were the lowest-ranked team in the qualifiers, and terminated the campaign losing all the games in the group.
2025 FIFA Suspension Pakistan was suspended from all football activities again by FIFA on 6 February 2025 due to failing to adopt a version of the PFF constitution approved by FIFA and the AFC that would have guaranteed fair elections. The suspension was lifted on 2 March 2025 after the PFF agreed to adopt the FIFA and AFC approved constitution. == Team image ==