KARACHI: Pakistan have been drawn into Group B of Division One of the inaugural Fifa Asean Cup 2026, where they will face Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Fifa Asean Cup will be held from September 24 to October 5, with Division One matches scheduled to take place in Indonesia.
Pakistan will begin their campaign against Thailand on September 26 before taking on the Philippines on September 29. Their final group-stage fixture will be against Vietnam on October 2.
The final of Division One is scheduled for October 5.
The inaugural Fifa Asean Cup will feature 14 national teams, comprising all 11 ASEAN members and three guest teams. The competition has been divided into two divisions.
Division One includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, along with guest teams Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Division Two features hosts Hong Kong, China, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste.
Each division has been divided into two groups, with teams playing a single round-robin format. The winners of the two groups in each division will advance to the respective finals, while the runners-up in Division One will also play a third-place match.
The tournament is being staged in Bandung and Jakarta in Indonesia, as well as Hong Kong, China.
According to Fifa, the tournament has been launched to provide national teams with meaningful competitive opportunities within the Men’s International Match Calendar while strengthening football ties across Southeast Asia and the wider region.
Fifa President Gianni Infantino said the competition would give players an opportunity to represent their countries in high-intensity regional rivalries and create new opportunities for fans to engage with international football.
For Pakistan, the tournament marks the men’s national team’s first participation in a Fifa tournament.
