[1] The under-23 side won the gold medal at the 2004 South Asian Games held across 3 venues in Pakistan from March 28 to April 6, 2004.

[4] In the 2006 South Asian Games held across in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 14 to 26 August 2006, Pakistan again won the gold medal.

[5] After advancing from the group stages, Essa's strike against Nepal led Pakistan to the final against Sri Lanka, which ended in a victory for the Green Shirts thanks to a goal by Adeel Ahmed in the half time.

PFF announced the signing of new Brazilian coach José Antonio Nogueira and started camps in Lahore.

On 14 August 2018, the team played its first group game against Vietnam, the then runner ups of 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, which resulted in a 3–0 loss.