Pakistan will begin their campaign in the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup against a vastly higher-ranked Thailand on Saturday, with head coach Nolberto Solano describing the tournament as an opportunity for his side to measure themselves against some of Asia’s stronger teams.

The Group B Division One opener will kick off at 4:00pm local time (2:00pm PST) at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, with Pakistan then scheduled to face the Philippines on Sept 29 and Vietnam on Oct 2.

“We want to use this opportunity to test ourselves against teams like Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam,” Solano said at the pre-match press conference on Friday. “It’s an honour to be here and we know it will be a tough competition.”

The challenge facing Pakistan is reflected in the FIFA rankings. Thailand are currently 94th, while Pakistan are 198th in the latest official rankings.

The Philippines are 135th and Vietnam 113th.

“All our opponents will be very tough and they have fantastic players,” Solano said. “Asian football has been getting better and better so it is a big test for us.

“We are slowly growing, we try to go step by step. We will try to prove ourselves as a national team and see how far we can go in this competition.”

For Pakistan, the tournament comes after an encouraging summer in which Solano’s side won the Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament in the Maldives.

Pakistan went unbeaten in the four-team event, drawing 0-0 with Bangladesh before beating the Maldives 3-0 and Afghanistan 2-0 in the round-robin stage. They defeated Afghanistan by the same score in the final, with Shayek Dost and Harun Hamid scoring, to secure their first standalone international tournament title in decades.

The triumph also ended a long wait for Pakistan to reach and win a standalone tournament. Their previous final appearance had come at the 1962 Merdeka Cup, while their last tournament triumph before the Maldives success had been a shared title at the Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament in 1952.

The ASEAN Cup, however, presents a markedly different proposition.

Thailand have named a squad featuring veteran playmaker Chanathip Songkrasin, Japan-based midfielder Supachok Sarachat and English-born forward Jude Soonsup-Bell. German-based defender Nicholas Mickelson is also in the squad, under English coach Anthony Hudson.

Thailand’s squad also includes established domestic names such as Supachai Chaided of Buriram United and Peeradon Chamratsamee of Port FC, underlining the depth available to the side.

Pakistan, meanwhile, have assembled a 23-man squad that combines domestic players with a number of footballers based abroad. Captain Abdullah Iqbal will lead the side, while experienced forward Kaleemullah has returned to the national setup.

Defender Easah Suliman, who plays abroad, joined the squad in Bandung after his arrival was delayed by illness. Twenty-two members of the squad had assembled in Indonesia by Thursday, with Easah expected to link up on Friday.

The Pakistan side also includes teenage midfielder Abdul Samad, captain of the national Under-17 team, who recently signed a two-year contract with Azerbaijani champions Qarabag.

For captain Abdullah, the tournament represents a chance for the players to test themselves against opposition of a different calibre.

“It is a great opportunity for us to compete against teams at another level,” he said. “We will try to give our best.”

The FIFA ASEAN Cup is the first edition of a new FIFA tournament involving 14 teams — all 11 ASEAN members plus Bangladesh, Pakistan and Hong Kong China as guest participants. Division One, being staged in Indonesia, comprises eight teams divided into two groups, with the group winners advancing to the final and the runners-up playing for third place.

Pakistan are in the same group as three teams with considerably stronger recent records in Asian football. After Thailand, they face the Philippines on Sept 29 before meeting Vietnam on Oct 2, with all three group matches being played in Bandung except Pakistan’s final fixture against Vietnam, which is scheduled for Jakarta.

For Solano, the immediate objective is less about the size of the challenge and more about how his players respond to it.

“We are slowly growing,” the former Peru international said. “We try to go step by step. We will try to prove ourselves as a national team and see how far we can go in this competition.”