KARACHI: Pakistan are hoping Stephen Constantine’s experience as coach of India will help them to their first-ever World Cup qualifying win.

The Englishman was on Saturday named as the new coach of the national football team by the Pakis­tan Football Feder­ation Normalisation Com­mittee ahead of next month’s 2026 FIFA World Cup first-round qualifier against Cambodia.

In a short statement, the PFF NC did not specify the length of the contract but said Constantine had “agreed to join the PFF with a singular focus for now — to win qualifiers against Cambodia”.

Pakistan are away for the first leg on Oct 12 with the return game — most likely at Islamabad’s Jinnah Stadium — set for Oct 17 and the PFF NC has pinned their hopes on Constantine ending their dismal record of never having won a qualifying game for football’s showpiece tournament.

Constantine is already in the country, overseeing Pakistan’s training camp which is underway in Lahore. The 60-year-old had two stints as coach of India, guiding them to victory in the 2015 SAFF Championship during his second spell.

He resigned as India coach in 2019, after their exit from the AFC Asian Cup that year but during that four-year term as coach he helped India reach their second-best FIFA ranking of 96.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2023