FIFA President Gianni Infantino has thanked the President of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Syed Mohsen Gilani, for his efforts to develop football in the country during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly High-level Week 2026 in New York, United States.

Mr Gilani was elected in May 2025 – the PFF’s first presidential election for 10 years – following the 2019 appointment of a Normalisation Committee and then the approval of a new constitution. Since then, he has been overseeing the development of football in the nation of more than 250 million people.

“I sat down with Pakistan Football Federation President Syed Mohsen Gilani to chat football and discuss how we can continue to collaborate to ensure his country’s youth get more opportunities to experience the joy of our beautiful game,” Mr Infantino said.

“President Gilani's vision for Pakistan football is impressive, and he provided updates on our ongoing projects. While pledging FIFA's support for his football development plans, I also thanked him and his dedicated Pakistan Football Federation team and wished them luck for the ongoing FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026 and upcoming FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival 2026.”

In the months after Mr Gilani took office, Pakistan played in the qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ for the first time and, although they failed to progress from their group, they recorded two historic wins against Indonesia and the Kyrgyz Republic. Those matches counted as qualifiers for both the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™ and the AFC Asian Women’s Cup 2026, which Pakistan also entered for the first time.

In October 2025, the PFF made history again as Pakistan participated in the qualifiers for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2026, their first-ever international futsal competition.

Progress has continued this year, and in April, Pakistan travelled to Côte d’Ivoire and participated in the Women’s FIFA Series™, where they gained invaluable international experience with matches against the Turks and Caicos Islands, winning 8-0, Mauritania and the host nation.

Also in April, the PFF began work on installing the first FIFA Arena mini-pitch in the country and in September, FIFA Football for Schools was launched with more than 100 children taking part in the festivities, while the PFF has also applied to join the FIFA Talent Development Scheme.

Pakistan are also benefitting from FIFA’s initiatives to create more playing opportunities at international level. The men’s national team are currently participating in the FIFA ASEAN Cup 2026™ as guests and Pakistan have entered the inaugural FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival™, which will take place in Azerbaijan from 24 to 30 October 2026.