Pakistan national football team records and statistics

The following is a list of the Pakistan national football team's competitive records and statistics.

The Pakistan national football team represents Pakistan in men's international football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Pakistan became a member of FIFA in 1948 and joined the Asian Football Confederation in 1950.

Pakistan's national team debuted in 1950 and has yet to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals. Pakistan has never qualified for any major tournament outside the South Asian region, although on regional level the team has won the 1952 Colombo Cup, and has achieved gold at the South Asian Games in 1989 and 1991. Pakistan had a brief period of emergence in the 1950s and early 1960s, but as the global popularity of football surged, the sport's standing in Pakistan deteriorated. The standard achieved in the early years could not be maintained because of lack of organization of the game and the administration's lack of attention to football.^[1] Football has also struggled to gain popularity in Pakistan largely due to the heavy influence of cricket in South Asia.^[2]

Individual records

Player records

As of 11 June 2024^[3]

Players in bold are still active with Pakistan.

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Period
1	Haroon Yousaf	51	3	1992–2003
2	Jaffar Khan	46	0	2001–2013
3	Samar Ishaq	43	3	2006–2013
4	Muhammad Essa	39	11	2001–2009
5	Tanveer Ahmed	30	3	1999–2008
6	Hassan Bashir	29	9	2012–2023
6	Yousuf Butt	29	0	2012–present
8	Adnan Ahmed	27	4	2007–2013
9	Abdul Aziz	26	0	2005–2011
	Muhammad Adil	26	0	2011–2018
	Kaleemullah Khan	26	4	2011–2020

NB Exact figures of players before 1989 and 1999 are not yet known and yet to be researched. This absence of data is notable for long-serving players not appearing in the list such as Zafar Iqbal, Mateen Akhtar, Sharafat Ali, Qazi Ashfaq & Mohammad Tariq Hussain, along with many others, who are likely to have accumulated a higher number of caps than currently recorded. Additionally, player appearances are also missing in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification, two of the 2002 friendly matches against Sri Lanka, and 2006 friendly against Palestine in the primary source and yet to be updated.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Period
1	Muhammad Essa	11	39	0.28	2001–2009
2	Sharafat Ali	10	—	—	1984–1992
3	Masood Fakhri	9	—	—	1952–1956
3	Hassan Bashir	9	29	0.31	2012–2023
5	Muhammad Umer	7	—	—	1956–1968
5	Arif Mehmood	7	21	0.33	2005–2012
7	Moosa Ghazi	6	—	—	1955–1967
	Mohammad Nauman Khan		—	—	1991–1997
	Sarfraz Rasool		22	0.27	1997–2003
10	Qayyum Changezi	5	—	—	1955–1963
	Gohar Zaman		10	0.5	1999–2002
	Safiullah Khan		11	0.45	2005–2009

NB Goalscorers of some matches before 1989, and the goalscorer against Nepal at the 1993 SAARC Gold Cup are not yet known and yet to be researched.

Captains

In major Continental and International tournaments. For the complete list, see the main article.

Player	Tournament(s)
Moideen Kutty	1954 Asian Games
Nabi Chowdhury	1958 Asian Games
Abdul Ghafoor	1974 Asian Games
Muhammad Naveed	1986 Asian Games
Mateen Akhtar	1990 Asian Games
Jaffar Khan	2006 AFC Challenge Cup

Manager records

Competition records

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1938	Part of United Kingdom								Part of United Kingdom
1950 to 1986	Did not enter								Did not enter
1990	Did not qualify								4	0	0	4	1	12
1994									8	0	0	8	2	36
1998									4	0	0	4	3	22
2002									6	0	1	5	5	29
2006									2	0	0	2	0	6
2010									2	0	1	1	0	7
2014									2	0	1	1	0	3
2018									2	0	1	1	1	3
2022									2	0	0	2	1	4
2026									8	1	1	6	2	26
2030	To be determined								To be determined
2034	To be determined								To be determined
Total		0/20	—	—	—	—	—		40	1	5	34	15	148

AFC Asian Cup

AFC Asian Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1956	Withdrew								Withdrew
1960	Did not qualify								6	2	1	3	8	10
1964	Withdrew								Withdrew
1968	Did not qualify								3	0	1	2	1	4
1972	Withdrew								Withdrew
1976
1980
1984	Did not qualify								4	1	0	3	4	14
1988									4	0	0	4	1	12
1992									2	0	0	2	0	9
1996									2	0	0	2	0	7
2000									4	0	0	4	0	16
2004									2	1	0	1	3	3
2007									8	0	1	7	4	23
2011	Did not enter								Did not enter
2015	Did not enter								Did not enter
2019	Did not qualify								2	0	1	1	1	3
2023	Did not qualify								2	0	0	2	1	4
2027	To be determined								To be determined
Total		0/18	—	—	—	—	—	—	39	4	4	31	23	105

AFC Challenge Cup

The AFC Challenge Cup was held every two years from 2006 through 2014.

AFC Challenge Cup record									Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2006	Group stage	10th	3	1	1	1	3	4	No qualification
2008	Did not qualify								3	2	0	1	12	10
2010									3	1	2	0	9	3
2012									3	1	0	2	3	6
2014									3	1	0	2	2	2
Total	Group stage	1/5	3	1	1	1	3	4	12	5	2	5	26	21

Asian Games

Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.

Asian Games record
Year	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1951	Did not enter
1954	Round 1	2	1	0	1	7	4
1958	Round 1	2	0	1	1	2	4
1962	Did not enter
1966
1970
1974	Round 1	3	1	0	2	6	13
1978	Did not enter
1982	Did not enter
1986	Round 1	4	0	0	4	2	15
1990	Round 1	3	0	0	3	1	16
1994	Did not enter
1998	Did not enter
2002 to present	See Pakistan national under-23 football team
Total	5/13	14	2	1	11	18	52

South Asian Games

Football at the South Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2004.

South Asian Games record
Year	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1984	Did not enter
1985	Fourth place	3	1	1	1	6	5
1987	Third place	3	2	1	0	2	0
1989	Champions	3	2	1	0	5	2
1991	Champions	3	2	1	0	3	0
1993	Group stage	2	0	1	1	3	4
1995	Withdrew
1999	Group stage	3	1	0	2	5	9
2004 to present	See Pakistan national under-23 football team
Total	6/8	17	8	5	4	24	20

SAFF Championship

SAFF Championship record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1993	Fourth place	4th	3	0	2	1	2	6
1995	Group stage	5th	2	1	0	1	1	2
1997	Third place	3rd	4	2	0	2	3	4
1999	Group stage	6th	2	0	0	2	0	6
2003	Fourth place	4th	5	3	0	2	5	4
2005	Semi-finals	4th	4	2	1	1	2	1
2008	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	2	9
2009	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	7	1
2011	Group stage	5th	3	0	3	0	1	1
2013	Group stage	5th	3	1	1	1	3	3
2015	Withdrew
2018	Semi-finals	4th	4	2	0	2	6	5
2021	Suspended
2023	Group stage	8th	3	0	0	3	0	9
Total	Third place	12/14	39	12	8	19	32	51

ECO Cup

ECO Cup record
Year	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1965	Third place	2	0	0	2	2	7
1967	Third place	2	0	0	2	4	9
1969	Third place	2	0	0	2	4	8
1970	Third place	2	0	0	2	1	10
1974	Third place	2	0	1	1	3	4
1993	Seventh place	2	0	0	2	0	9
Total	6/6	12	0	1	11	14	47

Head-to-head record

Last match updated : Tajikistan on 11 June 2024^[4]^[5]^[a]

**Key**
	Positive balance (more Wins)
	Neutral balance (equal W/L ratio)
	Negative balance (more Losses)

Pakistan national football team head-to-head records
Opponents	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Confederation
Afghanistan	4	3	0	1	4	4	0	AFC
Bahrain	1	1	0	0	5	1	+4	AFC
Bangladesh	18	6	5	7	10	17	−8	AFC
Bhutan	3	3	0	0	13	1	+12	AFC
Brunei	1	1	0	0	6	0	+6	AFC
Cambodia	5	1	1	3	2	5	−3	AFC
China	8	1	2	5	8	23	−15	AFC
Chinese Taipei	5	3	1	1	7	5	+2	AFC
Djibouti	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	CAF
Guam	1	1	0	0	9	2	+7	AFC
India	26	3	9	14	21	41	−20	AFC
Indonesia	4	0	1	3	2	9	−7	AFC
Iran	14	1	1	12	11	66	−55	AFC
Iraq	9	1	1	7	6	40	−34	AFC
Israel	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	UEFA
Japan	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1	AFC
Jordan	9	0	0	9	1	34	−33	AFC
Kazakhstan	3	0	0	3	0	14	−14	UEFA
Kenya	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	CAF
Kuwait	4	0	0	4	0	10	−10	AFC
Kyrgyzstan	4	1	0	3	1	7	−6	AFC
Lebanon	3	0	0	3	2	17	−15	AFC
Macau	3	2	1	0	7	2	+5	AFC
Malaysia	6	1	1	4	4	16	−12	AFC
Maldives	11	4	3	4	9	10	−1	AFC
Mauritius	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	CAF
Moldova	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5	UEFA
Myanmar (inc. Burma )	8	3	2	3	10	13	−3	AFC
Nepal	18	7	4	7	18	19	−1	AFC
Oman	4	0	1	3	2	12	−10	AFC
Palestine	6	0	0	6	2	13	−11	AFC
Philippines	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	AFC
Qatar	1	0	0	1	0	5	−5	AFC
Saudi Arabia	2	0	0	2	0	7	−7	AFC
Singapore	7	2	1	4	9	17	−8	AFC
South Korea	3	0	0	3	1	19	−18	AFC
Sri Lanka	20	8	4	8	28	31	−3	AFC
Tajikistan	4	0	0	4	1	12	−11	AFC
Thailand	6	1	0	5	7	20	−13	AFC
Turkey	4	0	1	3	9	16	−7	UEFA
Turkmenistan	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	AFC
United Arab Emirates	5	0	0	5	4	17	−13	AFC
Vietnam (inc. South Vietnam)	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	AFC
Yemen (inc. North Yemen)	5	1	1	3	6	11	−5	AFC
Total	250	57	42	149	235	565	−330	44 Nations

Other records

Biggest victories

Biggest defeats

Iran 9–1 Pakistan (12 March 1969)
Pakistan 0–8 Iraq (28 May 1993)

Honours

Regional

South Asian Games
- Gold medal (2): 1989, 1991
- Bronze medal (1): 1987
SAFF Championship
- Third place (1): 1997

Friendly

ECO Cup
- Third place (5): 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1974
Colombo Cup
- Champions (1): 1952
- Runners-up (2): 1953, 1955^[6]
- Third place (1): 1954
Merdeka Cup
- Runners-up (1): 1962
Quaid-e-Azam International Cup
- Runners-up (2): 1976, 1986
- Third place (2): 1982, 1987
Philippine Peace Cup
- Third place (1): 2013

Notes

^ Although there is some conjecture regarding the status of several games (especially pre-1992 matches), the table includes all fixtures recognised by FIFA as "A" internationals and as such is used to recognise caps, goal scorers, captaincy records, etc. Several other sources may differ from the table given below.

References

^ "Rising Popularity of Football in Pakistan Reflects Growing Interest in the Sport". Daily Times. 2024-06-26. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
^ Sohail, Shahrukh (2020-11-01). "Football: Soccer's Scoreless Sheet". Dawn. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
^ "Pakistan". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
^ "World Football Elo Ratings". www.eloratings.net. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
^ "Pakistan". worldfootball.net. 2014-08-17. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
^ Morrison, Neil (1999). "Asian Quadrangular Tournament (Colombo Cup) 1952–1955: 1955 (Dacca, Pakistan)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.

[6] Although there is some conjecture regarding the status of several games (especially pre-1992 matches), the table includes all fixtures recognised by FIFA as "A" internationals and as such is used to recognise caps, goal scorers, captaincy records, etc. Several other sources may differ from the table given below.

[:112-1] "Rising Popularity of Football in Pakistan Reflects Growing Interest in the Sport". Daily Times. 2024-06-26. Retrieved 2024-08-11.

[2] Sohail, Shahrukh (2020-11-01). "Football: Soccer's Scoreless Sheet". Dawn. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-02.

[3] "Pakistan". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.

[:12-4] "World Football Elo Ratings". www.eloratings.net. Retrieved 2023-08-11.

[:02-5] "Pakistan". worldfootball.net. 2014-08-17. Retrieved 2023-09-10.

[7] Morrison, Neil (1999). "Asian Quadrangular Tournament (Colombo Cup) 1952–1955: 1955 (Dacca, Pakistan)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.

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