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Pakistan men's national field hockey team facts for kids

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Pakistan
Pakistan-Hockey-Federation.png
Nickname(s) Green Shirts; Green Machines
Association Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF)
Confederation AHF (Asia)
Head Coach Ayaz Mehmood
Assistant coach(es) Rehan Butt , Muhammad Saqlain, Dilawar Hussain
Manager Shahnaz Sheikh
Captain Muhammad Umar Bhutta
Most caps Waseem Ahmad (410)
Top scorer Sohail Abbas (348)
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away
FIH ranking
Current 16 Steady (4 August 2023)
Highest 4 (2000)
Lowest 20 (Jul 2022)
First international
Pakistan  2–1  Belgium
(London, United Kingdom; 2 August 1948)
Biggest win
Pakistan  22–0    Nepal
(Madras, India; 26 December 1995)
Biggest defeat
India  10–2  Pakistan
(Hangzhou, China; 30 September 2023)
Olympic Games
Appearances 16 (first in 1948)
Best result Gold Champions (1960, 1968, 1984)
World Cup
Appearances 13 (first in 1971)
Best result Gold Champions (1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994)
Asian Games
Appearances 17 (first in 1958)
Best result Gold Champions (1958, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 2010)
Asia Cup
Appearances 11 (first in 1982)
Best result Gold Champions (1982, 1985, 1989)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 3 2
World Cup 4 2 0
Asian Games 8 3 3
Asia Cup 3 3 3
Champions Trophy 3 7 6
Asian Champions Trophy 3 2 0
Commonwealth Games 0 1 1

The Pakistan national field hockey team (Urdu: پاکستان قومى ہاكى ٹیم) represents Pakistan in international field hockey. Having played its first match in 1948, it is administered by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the governing body for hockey in Pakistan. It has been a member of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) since 1948 and was founding member of the Asian Hockey Federation (ASHF), which was formed in 1958.

Pakistan is one of the most successful national field hockey teams in the world with a record four Hockey World Cup wins (in 1971, 1978, 1982, and 1994).

Pakistan national team has played in all FIH World Cup editions with the only absence coming in 2014 and 2023. The Green Shirts are also most successful national team in the Asian Games, with eight gold medals: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, and 2010, the highest number of times a country has come first, and the only Asian team to have won the prestigious Champions Trophy, with three championships: 1978, 1980 and 1994. Pakistan has won a total of 29 official international titles to professional and grassroots level selections, with three gold medals in the Olympic Games field hockey tournaments: in Rome 1960, Mexico City 1968, and Los Angeles 1984.

Field hockey is the national sport of the country. The Pakistan national team has been ranked as the #1 team in the world in both 2000 and 2001 by the FIH. Former captain Sohail Abbas holds the World Record for the most international goals scored by a player in the history of international field hockey. Waseem Ahmad is the most-capped player for the team, having played 410 times between 1996 and 2013.

Pakistan is known for having fierce rivalry with India, having a record of playing each other in South Asian Games and Asian Games finals. They have competed against one another in 20 major tournaments finals so far, out of which Pakistan has won 13 titles in total. Pakistan have a record of winning the first three championships of Hockey Asia Cup in 1982, 1985 and 1989 against India in row. Apart from that, Pakistan has notable competitive rivalries with Netherlands and Australia.

Pakistan's home ground is National Hockey Stadium in Lahore. The current team head coach is Shahnaz Sheikh and the team manager is Saeed Khan.

History

Early history (1948–1955)

Pakistan national 1948
Pakistan national field hockey team, before playing final against Netherlands in Barcelona (Spain) on 4 November 1950 during the Barcelona International Hockey Festival.

Originally, the game had been brought by British servicemen to British India, and like cricket it soon became a popular sport with the local population. Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, soon after the Pakistan Hockey Federation came into being in 1948. Prior to the partition of India, players playing for Pakistan competed for the Indian side. The Federation soon established and organized the Provincial Hockey/Sports Associations of West Punjab, East Bengal, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bahawalpur & Services Sports Board. Despite the limited resources available on 2 August 1948, Pakistan national team, led by Ali Iqtidar Shah Dara, officially went on to play their first international game against Belgium winning the game 2–1 at the 1948 London Olympics. Pakistan remained unbeaten defeating the Netherlands, Denmark and France during the group stage round and ended up placing fourth. During the group stages Pakistan defeat of Netherlands by 6–1 was the highlight for the team. Following the Olympics Pakistan went on a tour of Europe where the played Belgium, Netherlands and Italy and remained undefeated during the tour.

The next international outing of the team came after a gap of two years when Pakistan participated in an invitational competition in Spain in 1950. Pakistan were declared joined winners with Netherlands after the final ended in a draw and organizers decided to end the game rather than going for a deciding period of play, this was Pakistan's first international tournament victory. Again there was a gap of two years before Pakistan again appeared in an international event and this time it was the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Pakistan won the first knock-out game against France 6–0 but lost to Netherlands and Great Britain to again finish fourth at the event. Over the four years Pakistan made tours to European teams and also hosted them in their own country and in Asia Pakistan particularly made regular tours to Malaysia and Singapore with whom they played quite a few times.

Rise in Olympics and Asian honors (1956–1970)

Pakistan won their first Olympic medal in 1956 at Melbourne when they reached the final but lost to India 1–0 to earn a silver medal, first podium finish this was also Pakistan's first medal at the Olympics. Field hockey was included in the Asian Games for the first time in 1958 at Tokyo. Pakistan were drawn against Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and archrivals India. They beat Japan 5–0 in their first match, then followed two consecutive victories over South Korea (8–0) and Malaysia (6–0). In the last match Pakistan drew 0–0 with India finishing top of the table in the round-robin format and clinched its first gold medal in an international competition.

In 1960 Rome Olympics where Pakistan played against in a group with Australia, Poland and Japan, winning all the matches. Pakistan then played the quarter-final round with Germany, winning the match 2–1 and advanced to the semi-final round where they defeated Spain. Pakistan eventually won the gold medal, defeating India 1–0 with a goal by Naseer Bunda in the final round held at the Olympic Velodrome and ended India's run of six successive gold medals at the Summer Olympic Games.

In the 1962 Asian Games, Pakistan earned its second gold medal with Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool as the captain leading the team to another successive award. However, during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics the national team ended up as runners-up for the second time after losing 1–0 to India in the final as well as finishing runners-up in the 1966 Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Pakistan won its second Olympic Games gold medal in Mexico at the 1968 Summer Olympics. It fielded what has since then often been considered the best hockey squad ever led by captain Tariq Aziz with Saeed Anwar, Khalid Mahmood, Gulraiz Akhtar and Tariq Niazi. Even though Rasool had retired, this team was still a force to be reckoned with. They won all six of their games—against Kenya, Great Britain, Malaysia, Australia, France and the Netherlands during group play, and against West Germany in the knockout round. Pakistan made the final for the fourth straight Olympics, and won the gold medal, as they had in 1960, this time by defeating Australia, 2–1 with goals from Muhammad Asad Malik and Abdul Rashid. Rashid was the top scorer for Pakistan with seven goals; Tanvir Dar finished with six goals.

The Golden Era (1970–1984)

In the group stage of the 1970 Asian Games, Pakistan was competing with tournament hosts Thailand and contenders Japan for top spot and a place in the finals. In their first match of the group, Pakistan scored thrice against Japan to clinch their first win, followed by defeating Hong Kong 10–0 to go to the top of the group. The team then draw 0–0 with Thailand and progressed to the knock-out round, where they won 5–0 over Malaysia. In the final, Pakistan faced India, winning 1–0 and sealing their third Asian Games gold medal.

Noor khan
PHF President (1967–69, 1976–84) Air Marshal Nur Khan conceived the idea of Hockey World Cup to FIH in 1969 and founded the Champions Trophy in 1978.

In 1971, the first-ever Hockey World Cup was to be hosted by Pakistan. However, political issues would prevent that first competition from being played in Pakistan. The FIH had inadvertently scheduled the first World Cup to be played in Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Furthermore, Pakistan and India had been at war with each other only six years earlier. When Pakistan invited India to compete in the tournament, a crisis arose. Pakistanis, led by cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar, protested against India's participation in the Hockey World Cup. Given the intense political climate between Pakistan and India, the FIH decided to move the tournament elsewhere. In March 1971, coincidentally in the same month Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan, the FIH decided to move the first Hockey World Cup to the Real Club de Polo grounds in Barcelona, Spain, which was considered a neutral and peaceful European site. On 27 March 1971, in Brussels, the trophy was formally handed to FIH President Rene Frank by H.E Masood, the Pakistani Ambassador to Belgium. A total number of 10 teams qualified for the event and were broken up into two groups.

The Pakistani team was drawn in a group with hosts Spain, Australia, Japan and the Netherlands. The group was topped by Spain and Pakistan respectively, and both the teams advanced into the semi-finals. In the first semi-final of the tournament Pakistan ousted India 2–1 in a tense and closely contested game and in the second semi-final Spain played safe and defeated a spirited Kenya 1–0 to enter the finals against Pakistan. In the final Pakistan scored early but then strengthened its defense to hold out a 1–0 victory and win the first hockey World Cup, retaining its number one position in the world hockey rankings, closely followed by India and the Netherlands. Tanvir Dar finished as the top goal scorer at the tournament with eight goals.

The 1972 Munich Olympics, Pakistan lost the final to hosts West Germany losing the game 1–0 with a goal by Michael Krause and finished at fourth place, the following year, in the 1973 Hockey World Cup. The national team made a comeback in the international competition, by winning and retaining their title at the 1974 Asian Games but lost to their rivals India in the finals of the third hockey World Cup in 1975. 1976 Montreal Olympics saw the team secure their first bronze medal in the competition.

The year 1978 saw Pakistan national team win three major international tournaments: the third Hockey World Cup held at Buenos Aires, Argentina along with 1978 Asian Games and the first Champions Trophy. This was the first time a national team won three major titles in the history of international field hockey. In 1980, Pakistan Olympic Association, along with 65 countries, boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This resulted in Pakistan hockey team not participating at the field hockey competition at the tournament. Pakistan hosted the 1980 and 1981 Champions Trophy tournaments, winning the title against West Germany in the final round in 1980 and finishing at fourth position a year later, held at the Hockey Club of Pakistan, Karachi. In the 1980s Pakistan won every international tournament it participated in including the 1982 World Cup in Mumbai and the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles where Pakistan won the gold medal defeating West Germany in the final. Pakistan also won the Asian Games and Asia Cup consecutively in this period.

Surface change crisis and resurgence (1986–1996)

Although hockey was being played at synthetic surfaces from the 1970s but it was only until the 1986 World Cup in London the FIH completely moved on from grass pitches to AstroTurf, synthetic turf made from plastic fibers to give a grass like look. The change of surface made the game much more fasted paced and to align the game with the new conditions the governing body vastly changed the rules of the game which focused more on strength and pace rather than stick work and technique which was the hallmark of Asian style of hockey. This negatively effected Pakistan since they couldn't replace all of the grass pitches with more expensive synthetic surfaces compared to more affluent European nations. This resulted in Pakistan performing very poorly at the World Cup in London where they won just one pool game and finished second last at 11th place. Pakistan however managed to cope up with the new changes in the game in the following years and started to regain some of its past dominance. Pakistan first finished runner-up at the 1990 World Cup at home in Lahore after losing the final to Netherlands and won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The most glorious highlight of the decade came in 1994 when Pakistan first won the 1994 Champions Trophy at home ground, their first title in the competition after 14 years and later in the year Pakistan won the Hockey World Cup in Sydney after winning a penalty shootout against Netherlands.

Post-Atlanta Olympics (1998–2006)

HOCKEY ARGENTINA PAKISTAN
Pakistan playing against Argentina in 2005.

After Atlanta 1996 the first major competition was the 1998 Hockey World Cup in Utrecht Pakistan finished 5th at the tournament. The following year Pakistan won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup for the first time in 1999. Pakistan finished fourth at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney after losing the bronze medal match to Australia, this was the last time Pakistan played for a medal at the Olympics. Pakistan finished 5th at 2002 World Cup and Kuala Lumpur and won bronze medal at the Champions Trophy the same year. At the 2002 Asian Games Pakistan finished fourth, the first time the team didn't won a medal at the competition. In 2003 Pakistan lost the Hockey Asia Cup final to India and in 2004 Pakistan had a busy schedule where they played in many tournaments in lead up to the Olympics but Pakistan finished 5th at the 2004 Athens Olympics later in December Pakistan finished third at the 2004 Champions Trophy in Lahore, the third consecutive bronze medal. In 2005 Pakistan had a highlight when they defeated Olympic champion Australia to win the 2005 Hockey RaboTrophy in Netherlands. Pakistan finished 6th the 2006 World Cup and failed even to progress from the pool stages of the 2007 Asia Cup.

Beijing Olympics and competitive decline (2008–2012)

2008 Olympic field hockey team Pakistan
The national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics proved to be the worst performance of the team at the event where they finished 8th. The year 2010 started with another record worst performance at the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi where the team finished last at 12th place but later in the same year Pakistan had a major success by winning the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games in China. In 2011 Pakistan played in many minor tournaments in lead up to the 2012 Olympics where they finished 7th. Later in the year 2012 Pakistan won bronze medal at the 2012 Champions Trophy in Melbourne after upsetting tournaments favorites like Germany. The Pakistani national team most successful tournament, in this period, was the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy winning the trophy first in 2012 against India and finishing as runners-up in the first edition of Asian Hockey Champions Trophy in 2011. During this period despite not any major team honor won the Pakistan team had world renowned individual players in world hockey in the likes of Sohail Abbas who remained top scorer at the 2002 World Cup and 2004 Olympics, he later broke the record of highest goalscorer in international hockey with a total of 348 goals and Rehan Butt who was twice voted as the Best Asian Player by Asian Hockey Federation, Shakeel Abbasi, Salman Akbar and Muhammad Saqlain.

World Cup and Olympic absentee (2013–2020)

Pakistan, after having failed to get a direct entrance for the 2014 World Cup, were handed a last chance to qualify for the event by winning the 2013 Asia Cup, but they finished third and failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in their history. Pakistan failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time at Rio 2016 after failing a qualification berth at the 2014–15 FIH Hockey World League. From 2016 to 2017, Pakistan performed poorly in different competitions even featuring a record 9–1 defeat against Australia in 2017. In 2018, Roelant Oltmans of Netherlands was brought in as coach and the team showed some improvement, but still performed poorly at the 2018 World Cup, failing to win a single match. Pakistan again failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, losing the Olympic Qualifiers against Netherlands over a two-legged tie in 2019.

Present era (2021–present)

PHF announced Pakistan's participation for the 2021 Asian Champions Trophy, the team's first appearance in an international competition after a gap of two years. A 20-man squad was announced with Siegfried Aikman as head coach prior to the tournament. Pakistan could not qualify for the 2023 World Cup despite it being a 16-team event. Pakistan then played 2022 Common wealth games where Pakistan performs poorly and finished 7th, In December 2022 Pakistan participated in 2022 Nations cup were Pakistan finished 7th, In July 2023 Shahnaz Sheikh was appointed as the head coach of team for 2023 Asian Champions Trophy, In August 2023 PHF announced 36-man squad for Asian Games 2023, In the Asian Games 2023 Pakistan lost to India by 10-2 which was the biggest defeat in their history, Pakistan finished 5th in the Asian Games 2023.Pakistan also failed to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics

Logo and stadium

The motif of the Pakistan national field hockey team has a star and crescent on a dark green field; with a vertical white stripe at the hoist, usually in green, white color, as represented in the flag of Pakistan.

Pakistan played at a number of different venues across the country, though by 1978, this had largely settled down to having National Hockey Stadium (also known as Gaddafi Hockey Stadium, named after former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi) in Lahore as the primary venue, with Faisalabad Hockey Stadium and the Hockey Club of Pakistan used on occasions where the National Hockey Stadium was unavailable for home matches. The stadium is considered to be the biggest international field hockey stadium in the world, and holds a capacity of 45,000 spectators.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has its headquarters at the stadium. Pakistan has hosted many international matches and competitions such as the Hockey Asia Cup of 1982 and Champions Trophy tournament in 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2004 along with the 1990 Hockey World Cup, where Pakistan lost 3–1 to the Netherlands in the final.

Honors and recognition

Since its breakthrough in the 1948 Summer Olympics, Pakistan has won more than 20 official titles, which are detailed below:

  • Summer Olympics:
  • World Cup:
    • Gold medal: 1971, 1978, 1982, 1994
    • Silver medal: 1975, 1990
  • Champions Trophy:
    • Gold medal: 1978, 1980, 1994
    • Silver medal: 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2014
    • Bronze medal: 1986, 1992, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2012,
  • Sultan Azlan Shah Cup:
    • Gold medal: 1998, 2000, 2003
    • Silver medal: 1983, 1987, 1991, 1994, 2004, 2011
    • Bronze medal: 1985, 2005, 2022
  • Asian Champions Trophy:
    • Gold medal: 2012, 2013, 2018
    • Silver medal: 2011, 2016
  • Asia Cup:
    • Gold medal: 1982, 1985, 1989
    • Silver medal: 1999, 2003, 2009
    • Bronze medal: 1994, 2013, 2017
  • Asian Games:
    • Gold medal: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 2010
    • Silver medal: 1966, 1986, 2014
    • Bronze medal: 1994, 1998, 2006
  • Commonwealth Games:
    • Silver medal: 2006
    • Bronze medal: 2002
  • South Asian Games:
    • Gold medal: 2006, 2010, 2016
    • Silver medal: 1995
  • Afro-Asian Games:
    • Silver medal: 2003
  • Hockey Champions Challenge:
    • Silver medal: 2009

Competitive record

Team performance

TBD (to be determined), DNQ (did not qualify), DNP (did not participate)

Olympic Games
Year Host city Position
1948 United Kingdom London, United Kingdom 4th
1952 Finland Helsinki, Finland 4th
1956 Australia Melbourne, Australia 2nd
1960 Italy Rome, Italy 1st
1964 Japan Tokyo, Japan 2nd
1968 Mexico Mexico City, Mexico 1st
1972 Germany Munich, West Germany 2nd
1976 Canada Montreal, Canada 3rd
1980 Soviet Union Moscow, Soviet Union DNP
1984 United States Los Angeles, United States 1st
1988 South Korea Seoul, South Korea 5th
1992 Spain Barcelona, Spain 3rd
1996 United States Atlanta, United States 6th
2000 Australia Sydney, Australia 4th
2004 Greece Athens, Greece 5th
2008 China Beijing, China 8th
2012 United Kingdom London, United Kingdom 7th
2016 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil DNQ
2020 Japan Tokyo, Japan DNQ
2024 France Paris, France DNQ
World Cup
Year Host city Position
1971 Spain Barcelona, Spain 1st
1973 Netherlands Amstelveen, Netherlands 4th
1975 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
1978 Argentina Buenos Aires, Argentina 1st
1982 India Mumbai, India 1st
1986 England London, England 11th
1990 Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan 2nd
1994 Australia Sydney, Australia 1st
1998 Netherlands Utrecht, Netherlands 5th
2002 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5th
2006 Germany Mönchengladbach, Germany 6th
2010 India New Delhi, India 12th
2014 Netherlands The Hague, Netherlands DNQ
2018 India Bhubaneswar, India 12th
2023 India Bhubaneswar, India DNQ
Champions Trophy
Year Host city Position
1978 Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan 1st
1980 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan 1st
1981 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan 4th
1982 Netherlands Amstelveen, Netherlands 4th
1983 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan 2nd
1984 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan 2nd
1985 Australia Perth, Australia 4th
1986 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan 3rd
1987 Netherlands Amstelveen, Netherlands 7th
1988 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan 2nd
1989 Germany Berlin, West Germany 4th
1990 Australia Melbourne, Australia 4th
1991 Germany Berlin, Germany 2nd
1992 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan 4th
1993 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4th
1994 Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan 1st
1995 Germany Berlin, Germany 3rd
1996 India Madras, India 2nd
1997 Australia Adelaide, Australia 5th
1998 Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan 2nd
1999 Australia Brisbane, Australia 6th
2000 Netherlands Amstelveen, Netherlands DNP
2001 Netherlands Rotterdam, Netherlands 4th
2002 Germany Cologne, Germany 3rd
2003 Netherlands Amstelveen, Netherlands 3rd
2004 Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan 3rd
2005 India Chennai, India 5th
2006 Spain Terrassa, Spain 5th
2007 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 7th
2008 Netherlands Rotterdam, Netherlands DNP
2009 Australia Melbourne, Australia DNP
2010 Germany Mönchengladbach, Germany DNP
2011 New Zealand Auckland, New Zealand 7th
2012 Australia Melbourne, Australia 3rd
2014 India Bhubaneswar, India 2nd
2016 England London, England DNP
2018 Netherlands Breda, Netherlands 6th
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
Year Host city Position
1983 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
1985 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3rd
1987 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
1991 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
1994 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
1995 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DNP
1996 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DNP
1998 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st
1999 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DNP
2000 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st
2001 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4th
2003 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1st
2004 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
2005 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3rd
2006 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5th
2007 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 6th
2008 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4th
2009 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4th
2010 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5th
2011 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
2012 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 7th
2013 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 6th
2014 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
2015 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DNP
2016 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5th
2017 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DNP
2018 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DNP
2019 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia DNP
2022 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3rd
Asian Hockey Champions Trophy
Year Host city Position
2011 China Ordos, China 2nd
2012 Qatar Doha, Qatar 1st
2013 Japan Kakamigahara, Japan 1st
2016 Malaysia Kuantan, Malaysia 2nd
2018 Oman Muscat, Oman 1st
2021 Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh 4th
2023 India Chennai, India 5th
Asia Cup
Year Host city Position
1982 Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan 1st
1985 Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh 1st
1989 India New Delhi, India 1st
1994 Japan Hiroshima, Japan 3rd
1999 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
2003 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd
2007 India Chennai, India 6th
2009 Malaysia Kuantan, Malaysia 2nd
2013 Malaysia Ipoh, Malaysia 3rd
2017 Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh 3rd
2022 Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia 5th
Asian Games
Year Host city Position
1958 Japan Tokyo, Japan 1st
1962 Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia 1st
1966 Thailand Bangkok, Thailand 2nd
1970 Thailand Bangkok, Thailand 1st
1974 Iran Tehran, Iran 1st
1978 Thailand Bangkok, Thailand 1st
1982 India New Delhi, India 1st
1986 South Korea Seongnam, South Korea 2nd
1990 China Beijing, China 1st
1994 Japan Hiroshima, Japan 3rd
1998 Thailand Bangkok, Thailand 3rd
2002 South Korea Busan, South Korea 4th
2006 Qatar Doha, Qatar 3rd
2010 China Guangzhou, China 1st
2014 South Korea Incheon, South Korea 2nd
2018 Indonesia Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia 4th
2022 China Hangzhou-China 5th
Commonwealth Games
Year Host city Position
1998 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 10th
2002 England Manchester, England 3rd
2006 Australia Melbourne, Australia 2nd
2010 India New Delhi, India 6th
2014 Scotland Glasgow, Scotland DNP
2018 Australia Gold Coast, Australia 7th
2022 England Birmingham, England 7th
South Asian Games
Year Host city Position
1995 India Madras, India 2nd
2006 Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka 1st
2010 Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh 1st
2016 India Guwahati, India 1st
Afro-Asian Games
Year Host city Position
2003 India Hyderabad, India 2nd
FIH Hockey World League
Year Host city Position
2012–13 India New Delhi, India 13th
2014–15 India Raipur, India 15th
2016–17 India India 14th
FIH Hockey Nations Cup
Year Host city Position
2022 South Africa Potchefstroom, South Africa 7th

Records

For more details, see Pakistan national field hockey team record and statistics

As of 27 October 2019

Players in bold text are still active with Pakistan

Top goal scorers

Rank Player Goals Matches Career Ref
1 Sohail Abbas 348 311 1998–2012
2 Hassan Sardar 150 148 1979–1987
3 Tahir Zaman 134 252 1987–1998
4 Kamran Ashraf 129 166 1993–2002
5 Hanif Khan 127 177 1976–1985
6 Rehan Butt 110 274 2002–2012 [?]
7 Muhammad Imran 106 289 2004–2015 [?]
8 Shakeel Abbasi 103 309 2003–2014
9 Manzoor-ul-Hassan 101 154 1972–1982
10 Shahbaz Ahmed 101 304 1986–2002

Most-capped players

Rank Player Matches Goals Career Ref
1 Waseem Ahmed 410 10 1996–2013
2 Sohail Abbas 311 348 1998–2012
3 Shakeel Abbasi 309 103 2003–2014
4 Shahbaz Ahmed 304 101 1986–2002
5 Muhammad Imran 289 106 2004–2015 [?]
6 Rehan Butt 274 110 2002–2012 [?]
7 Tahir Zaman 252 134 1987–1998
8 Mansoor Ahmed 238 0 1986–1997
9 Zeeshan Ashraf 235 3 2001–2010 [?]
10 Muhammad Saqlain 233 32 1999–2009 [?]
11 Muhammed Umar Bhutta 204 57 2009–present

Players

For more details, see List of Pakistani field hockey players

Officials

Position Name
Head coach: Pakistan Shahnaz Sheikh
Manager: Pakistan Saeed Khan
Assistant coach: Pakistan Shakeel Abbasi
Goalkeeping coach: Pakistan Amjad Ali
Video analyst: Pakistan Rehan Butt
Physical Instructor: India Rajakamal

Current players

Squad as of 11 August 2023 for 2023 Men's Asian Champions Trophy.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Akmal Hussain 24 31 0 Pakistan WAPDA
12 GK Abdullah Ishtiaq Khan 23 13 0 Pakistan Mari Petroleum
2 DF Mohammad Abdullah 20 37 0 Pakistan Mari Petroleum
15 DF Mohammad Sufyan Khan 19 23 12 Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
4 DF Ihtesham Aslam 21 22 0 Pakistan Mari Petroleum
13 DF Usama Bashir 24 23 1 Pakistan Pakistan Air Force
6 DF Aqeel Ahmad 18 18 0 Pakistan WAPDA
7 MF Arshad Liaquat 21 23 7 Pakistan Mari Petroleum
3 MF Mohammad Ammad 16 17 7 Pakistan Pakistan Customs
17 MF Murtaza Yaqoob 20 17 1 Pakistan WAPDA
9 FW Abdul Hanan Shahid 17 25 10 Pakistan WAPDA
11 FW Zikriya Hayat 19 6 0 Pakistan Pakistan Navy
8 FW Rana Abdul Wahid Ashraf (Vice-captain) 23 43 20 Pakistan WAPDA
10 FW Roman 22 22 5 Pakistan WAPDA
19 FW Mohammad Shahzaib Khan 23 17 0 Pakistan Pakistan Customs
20 FW Afraz 24 39 15 Pakistan Mari Petroleum
18 FW Abdul Rahman 19 12 5 Pakistan Pakistan Air Force
14 FW Muhammad Umar Bhutta (Captain) (1992-12-24) 24 December 1992 (age 31) 204 35 Pakistan Mari Petroleum |}

Results and fixtures

Main article: Pakistan national field hockey team tours and matches
Further information: Pakistan national field hockey team tours and matches (2020–2024)

2021

Asian Hockey Champions Trophy

2022

2022 Hockey Asia Cup

2022 Commonwealth Games

2022 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

2022 FIH Nations Cup

2023

2023 Asian Champions trophy

2023 Asian games

2024

2024 Men's FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers

Head-to-head record

For more details, see India–Pakistan field hockey rivalry and Netherlands-Pakistan field hockey record

Record last updated as of the following matches:

Pakistan vs Bangladesh at Jakarta, 2022 Hockey Asia Cup, 1 June 2022

Won more matches than lost
Won equal matches to lost
Lost more matches than won
Opponent GP W D L GF GA Win % Last meeting
 Argentina 34 21 3 10 108 58 61.76% 2018
 Australia 122 43 19 60 256 329 35.24% 2018
 Bangladesh 85 85 0 0 208 5 100% 2022
 Belarus 102 102 0 0 368 0 100% 2000
 Belgium 38 24 4 10 95 62 63.15% 2018
 Canada 29 21 4 4 89 46 72.41% 2018
 China 32 26 2 4 138 38 81.25% 2017
 Chinese Taipei 2 2 0 0 22 0 100% 2013
 Cuba 2 0 1 1 2 3 0% 1993
 Denmark 142 142 0 0 796 0 100% 2010
 East Germany 3 0 0 3 2 6 0% 1968
 Egypt 128 128 0 0 653 5 100% 2010
 England 36 15 8 13 81 79 41.66% 2018
 France 25 19 3 3 108 29 76% 2015
 Germany 125 47 18 60 248 281 37.6 2019
 Great Britain 49 27 7 15 123 81 55.10% 2015
 Hong Kong 47 47 0 0 162 2 100% 2010
 India 174 82 26 66 396 352 47.12% 2021
 Indonesia 48 48 0 0 237 0 100% 2022
 Iran 92 92 0 0 329 0 100% 1995
 Ireland 15 10 2 3 45 18 66.66% 2017
 Italy 4 4 0 0 20 0 100% 2009
 Japan 58 42 9 7 211 58 73.68% 2022
 Kazakhstan 2 2 0 0 19 1 100% 2018
 Kenya 52 33 12 7 126 37 63.46% 1998
 Malaysia 107 80 18 9 291 124 74.76% 2018
   Nepal 1 1 0 0 22 0 100% 1995
 Netherlands 146 60 30 56 311 343 41.49% 2019
 New Zealand 55 37 7 11 179 100 67.27% 2017
 Nigeria 2 2 0 0 16 3 100% 2003
 Oman 10 9 1 0 74 10 88.88% 2022
 Poland 13 10 2 1 41 16 76.92% 2015
 Rhodesia 1 1 0 0 6 0 100% 1968
 Russia 72 72 0 0 291 2 100% 2009
 Scotland 5 4 1 0 17 4 80% 2017
 Singapore 13 13 0 0 76 7 100% 2007
 South Africa 14 11 1 2 59 23 78.57% 2013
 South Korea 71 38 12 21 214 134 53.52% 2021
 Soviet Union 17 14 1 2 59 20 82.35% 1992
 Spain 72 42 17 13 177 109 58.33% 2012
 Sri Lanka 91 91 0 0 263 2 100% 2016
 Switzerland 6 5 1 0 29 14 83.33% 2000
 Tanzania 1 1 0 0 3 1 100% 1965
 Thailand 6 5 1 0 60 0 83.33% 2018
 Trinidad and Tobago 1 1 0 0 7 1 100% 2007
 Uganda 2 2 0 0 5 2 100% 1972
 Ukraine 1 1 0 0 5 0 100% 2007
 United States 3 3 0 0 13 1 100% 1996
 Wales 5 4 1 0 17 3 80% 2018
 Zimbabwe 9 9 0 0 47 4 100% 1988

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Selección masculina de hockey sobre hierba de Pakistán para niños

  • Pakistan Hockey League
  • India–Pakistan field hockey rivalry
  • Pakistan men's national under-21 field hockey team
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