Muhammad Essa Khan (Urdu, Pashto: ; born 20 November 1983) is a Pakistani football manager and former footballer who played as a forward. He is the current head coach of Khan Research Laboratories. A former captain of the Pakistan national team, he is regarded as one of the most talented football players Pakistan had seen. He was used as a playmaker particularly in support of a striker, or a genuine centre forward because of his ball holding and passing skills. He was a left-footed free-kick specialist. Essa is one of the most well known faces in Pakistani football, due to his regular goal scoring at international level.

Club career

Early career

Born in the city of Chaman in Pakistan's Balochistan province, he played in the youth team of Pakistani club side Afghan FC Chaman before signing for PTCL FC, with whom he won the old PFF President's Cup in 2003. In the inaugural Pakistan Premier League season in 2004, the club finished fifth in the league table.

Foreign interest

In June 2005, Essa was offered a playing contract from major Indian football team East Bengal FC after his stellar performance in the international friendly series against India, but it seemingly failed to materialise after the club decided to retain the striker Bhaichung Bhutia for the next season following the wages demands of Essa.

Afghan Chaman

In the second season of Pakistan Premier League season in 2005, he returned to his hometown club Afghan FC Chaman, with his goals helping them to finish fourth in the table.

WAPDA

The following season, he transferred to departmental side WAPDA, but could not help them retain their Pakistan Premier League title; finishing second to Pakistan Army.

KRL

He moved to Khan Research Laboratories, and helped them finish third in the 2007–08 season. The same year, he played in the Geo Super Football League for Quetta Zorawar as captain. Although his team came second in the league round and lost in the semi-final in the knock-out round of the tournament, he was awarded the SFL 2007 Player of the Tournament trophy.

K-Electric

In 2009, he moved to K-Electric, where he served both as a player and assistant coach in the last years. He also played in the 2010 season that the Geo Super Football League for Karachi Energy beating Quetta Zorawar 1–0 in final.

International career

Essa started at the under-16 level in 1995, and went on to play for the under-19 side. He was discovered by then Pakistan youth team and under-23 manager John Layton back in early 1999, and found his way into the Pakistan national football team soon enough, receiving his first cap in 2001. In 2004, Essa was called up to the Pakistan U-23 squad for the 2004 South Asian games. He ended the tournament as top scorer and was player of the tournament, and helped Pakistan win the gold medal. His goal in the semi final against Sri Lanka which ultimately ended in a 1–1 draw until the penalty shootout took Pakistan all the way to the final against India, where Abdul Aziz's goal gave Pakistan a 1–0 victory. Essa scored his first senior international goal in a free-kick against India, in the first match of the 2005 Pakistan-India friendly series at the Ayub National Stadium in Quetta to tie the game 1–1 with minutes to go before the final whistle. He scored again in the 3–0 win against India at the Punjab Stadium in Lahore. He was named player of series at the end. In 2006, he captained the Pakistan under 23 side at the 2006 South Asian Games, winning another gold medal. 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. He also captained the under-23 side at the 2006 Asian Games. He retained his captaincy for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification campaign. Despite a 2–0 win against Chinese Taipei in the first match, Pakistan lost 7–1 to Sri Lanka, which made Pakistan's 9–2 demolition of Guam meaningless as they finished behind on points to Sri Lanka, thus failing to qualify for the main round. Because of injury, Essa had to miss the 2008 SAFF Championship. He retired from the national team during the 2009 SAFF Championship, following a fallout with the international team manager György Kottán.

Managerial career

Essa served K-Electric both as a player and assistant coach while attaining the AFC B coaching license. He was appointed as assistant coach of the Pakistan national team in 2018, lasting during the tenure of former PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat, who was ousted by FIFA in June 2019. He returned to K-Electric as head coach until the team got disbanded in 2020. He joined KRL as the head coach in January 2023.

Personal life

Essa came from a family of footballers. Two of his uncles and his two brothers played in the domestic circuit. His older brother Ahmad Shah played at the national level and younger brother Jahangir Khan played for Pakistan national under-19 team. Essa's younger cousin Kaleemullah Khan is also a footballer and represented the Pakistan national team. On 13 August 2007, Essa was awarded the Salaam Pakistan Award alongside tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and female squash player Maria Toorpakai for their contributions to sport by the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. In 2009, he opened an academy at his home town in Chaman, called the Essa Khan Academy. Essa is the co-founder of Pak Afghan Clearing Agency, founded as a hybrid of a department and football club.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Pakistan Telecommunication Khan Research Laboratories K-Electric Pakistan U23