ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s national men’s football team is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on June 5, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) announced on Monday, as the two teams gear up to lock horns for their FIFA World Cup qualifier round 2 clash. 

Pakistan will face Saudi Arabia at the Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad on June 6. In the first leg of the FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures, Saudi Arabia thrashed Pakistan 4-0 when the two Group G sides faced each other in Al Ahsa city last year. 

“Saudi Arabia’s football team will arrive in Islamabad on June 5,” the PFF said in a statement, adding that the away team would travel from Riyadh to Islamabad on a chartered flight.

The June 6 fixture against Saudi Arabia will be Pakistan’s last home match for the FIFA World Cup qualifying round. The green shirts will face Tajikistan on June 11 in what will be their final away fixture of round 2. Pakistan are in Group G of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tajikistan. 

A total of 36 football squads have been split into nine groups with four teams each in the second round of qualifiers. The winners and runners-up from each group would go through to the third round.

Fans can buy tickets for Pakistan’s match against Saudi Arabia on Bookme.pk. 

Preliminary Pakistan squad
Goalkeepers: Hassan Ali and Tanveer
Defenders: Haseeb Khan, Mamoon Moosa Khan, Huzaifa, Waqar Ihtisham, Abdul Rehman, Umar Hayat, Muhammad Adeel, Muhammad Saddam and Zain ul Abideen
Midfielders: Yasir Arafat, Alamgir Ghazi, Ali Uzair, Rajab Ali, Moin Ali, Junaid Ahmed and Fahim
Forwards: Adeel Younas, Shayak Dost, Ali Zafar and Fareedullah
The PFF said the names of diaspora players joining the national training camp later would be included in the final squad

ISLAMABAD: United States Ambassador Donald Blome on Monday highlighted Washington’s ongoing support for Pakistan’s economic reforms agenda in a meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, the US embassy said in a statement, as Islamabad seeks a larger loan program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilize its fragile economy. 

Reeling from low foreign exchange reserves, massive currency devaluation and high inflation since the past two years, Pakistan faces a chronic balance of payment crisis. The South Asian country last month completed a short-term $3 billion IMF loan program that helped it avert a sovereign default. However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif continues to stress the need for longer-term program from the international lender to stabilize Pakistan. 

The IMF has pressed upon Islamabad to undertake vital economic reforms which include overhauling loss-making state-owned enterprises, introducing tax, energy and power reforms in exchange for a fresh loan program. 

Pakistan views the US as a key ally that can help alleviate its economic crisis, considering its huge influence within the IMF. 

“US Ambassador Donald Blome met today with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb to discuss key aspects of the US-Pakistan trade, investment, and economic relationship,” US Mission Spokesperson Thomas Montgomery said on Monday. 

“The Ambassador highlighted ongoing US support for Pakistan’s economic reform agenda.”

The US embassy said Washington was committed to working with Pakistan in technical and development-related initiatives. It added that Blome emphasized in the meeting how the US remained Pakistan’s largest export market, making it a major source of high-quality investment and a “strong partner” for Pakistan’s economic future.

Pakistan’s economy has recorded some gains since last year when it narrowly avoided a sovereign default, with inflation coming down to around 17 percent in April 2024 from a record high of 38 percent in May 2023.

However, the South Asian country is still dealing with a high fiscal shortfall and while it has controlled its external account deficit through import control mechanisms, it has come at the expense of stagnating growth, which is expected to be around 2 percent this year, compared to negative growth last year.

Ties between Islamabad and Washington, once close allies, have recently started to improve after years of frosty relations, mostly due to America’s concerns about Pakistan’s alleged support of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan denies it supported the armed group in taking over the country.

Relations strained further under the government of former prime minister Imran Khan, who ruled from 2018-22 and antagonized Washington throughout his tenure, welcoming the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Khan later accused Washington of being behind attempts to oust him, allegations which Washington has repeatedly denied. 

The previous government of PM Sharif that took over after Khan in 2022 and whose term ended last year, had tried to mend ties but analysts widely believe the United States will not seek a significant broadening of ties with Islamabad in the near future but remain mostly focused on security cooperation, especially on counterterrorism and Afghanistan.