Football – Also a future for Pakistan sports | Sports

For too long now, Pakistan has been relying on the three sports Cricket, Squash and Hockey. It was back in 1992 that we reached our apex point when Imran Khan’s squad did the country proud by winning the ICC ODI World Cup.

However, in the mid-1990s onwards, Pakistan’s fortunes in other national sports including hockey and squash, have been on the decline.

For instance, from 1992 to 2024, Pakistan went without a single Olympic medal in any event, not even a bronze medal, until Nadeem Arshad the Javelin Thrower, came to their rescue by winning a gold medal for his country in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Presently, Pakistan relies heavily on Cricket to bring it laurels. There is an imperative need to diversify and invest in other sports, particularly in the absence of a consistent performance in Cricket. Recent loss of the T-20 series 2-1 to a lower ranked team such as Bangladesh, the loss of the ODI series 2-1 against the lower ranked West Indies and even a loss to the unrated United States in the 2024 T-20 World Cup showcases their inconsistent and unpredictable performances.

The decline of supremacy in squash and hockey and the inconsistent and unpredictable performance in Cricket only underscores the importance of broadening our sports horizons. One sport which can play a pivotal role in uplifting the international sporting image of Pakistan is Soccer. Whereas sports like Cricket only get limited international coverage due to the fewer Cricket playing countries, with soccer it’s a different ball game altogether. Without taking away anything from Cricket, the fact remains that Cricket is more regional specific whereas sports such as football attract a more global appeal and viewership. Promotion of soccer could create more international exposure and opportunities for Pakistan, boost overall sports related revenue and for selection and grooming of athletic related talent from a wider spectrum of population. The cricket followers are mainly based in countries like India, Pakistan, England and Australia and is able to attract viewership in a major ICC World Cup tournament of up to a billion viewers whereas a FIFA World Cup event can attract as much as over 3.5 Billion viewers from a much broader spectrum of population. Furthermore, it’s market is significantly higher, from a commercial point of view and attracts bigger sponsorships. Overall, the fundings received can go into expansion of infrastructure, training facilities and towards overall betterment of the player.

We already have the infrastructure for sports like Hockey, squash and Cricket. In case of football, however, we do not have that advantage. It will need a sincere and concerted effort by all stakeholders to prioritize football and to provide the necessary infrastructure at community and school level, including stadiums, training facilities, and grassroot academies. It requires strong football related governance and administration, promoting merit-based talent hunting and selection. It’s a pre-requisite for us to substantially enhance allocation of funds for promoting football within the country. Another mandatory requirement is for us to hire competent coaches, both national and international to build up a team of international stature, our eventual aim being to qualify to play for the FIFA football World Cup. The role of the hired trainers would be instrumental in achieving this objective.

Historically, the football game in Pakistan has suffered from many self-inflicted challenges including infightings and non-compliance/rejection of constitutional amendments proposed by FIFA. This resulted in FIFA imposing a ban on Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) twice (in April 2021 and then again in February 2025), which resulted in a significant setback in terms of the country’s credibility, reputation and sports governance, particularly in football. However, the ban was lifted in March 2025 after PFF agreed to the proposed FIFA amendments. The good news is that FIFA has in August 2025 reaffirmed their recognition of PFF as the sole governing body in Pakistan, which is currently led by Syed Mohsin Gilani.

The lifting of the ban has provided PFF and others an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and move forward in the right direction. Notable efforts have indeed been made in this regard. The most positive initiative taken has been the recent appointment of the renowned Peruvian icon Nolberto Solano as the Head Coach of both the senior and U-23 Pakistan’s national football teams. The latest news is that Solano landed in Pakistan on 16 August 2025 and has reported as Head Coach of the Pakistani team at a ceremony held at the Pakistan Football Federation headquarters in Lahore. In 2018 he coached and took the Peru team to new heights when, after a 36 years gap, Peru qualified to play in the FIFA World Cup. Maybe one day, through hard work and dedication and under the able guidance of Salano, Pakistan can also achieve the milestone of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, a feat that would put Pakistan way up on the pedestal of international sports. It’s not an impossible task to achieve. Other countries who previously had no football credentials worth their name such as Saudi Arabia and Morocco achieved remarkable successes in a short period thanks mainly to the competent international coaches they employed. Saudi Arabia for instance qualified for their first FIFA World Cup held in the USA in 1994 under the training and able leadership of the Argentinian coach Jorge Raul Solari. He successfully led them to the Round of 16. Later, Saudi Arabia again employed a foreign coach, a Brazilian by the name of Carlos Alberto Parreira, who led them to qualify for playing in the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France. Since 1994, Saudi Arabia has qualified for the FIFA World Cup six times, which speaks volumes of the importance of hiring professional coaches. Without the leadership and competence of these international coaches this achievement of the Saudi team would not have been possible.

The initiative taken by the Pakistan Football Federation to hire the Peruvian coach Nolberto Solano as the Head Coach of Pakistan’s national football team is an excellent one. With adequate investment in infrastructure, merit based talent selection and training, with good governance and administration, and with an overall positive mindset, Pakistan football can rise to new heights. By drawing inspiration from countries like Saudi Arabia and Morocco, Pakistan can achieve the seemingly near impossible task of making a lasting impact on the international sports scene by qualifying to play for the FIFA World Cup. 

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