Pakistan national football team
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Nickname(s) | Green Shirts Pak Shaheens | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Association | Pakistan Football Federation | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Confederation | AFC (Asia) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sub-confederation | SAFF (South Asia) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coach | Mohammed Shamlan | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Captain | Zesh Rehman | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Home stadium | Punjab Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||
FIFA code | PAK | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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FIFA ranking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current | 168 ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest | 141 (February 1994) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Lowest | 192 (May 2001) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
First international | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() (Tehran, Iran; October 27, 1950) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biggest win | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; August 5, 1960) ![]() ![]() (Taipei, Chinese Taipei; April 6, 2008) ![]() ![]() (Dhaka, Bangladesh; December 8, 2009) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biggest defeat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() (Tehran, Iran; March 12, 1966) ![]() ![]() (Tehran, Iran; March 12, 1969) ![]() ![]() (Irbid, Jordan; May 28, 1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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The Pakistan national football team represents Pakistan in association football and is controlled by Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), the governing body for football in Pakistan and is a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The team has not yet qualified for either the FIFA World Cup or Asian Cup championships. Twice they have finished third in the South Asian Football Federation Cup. They also were Merdeka Cup runners up in 1962 and twice finished second in the Quaid-i-Azam Tournament. However, in the first decade of the 21st century the Pakistani government and the PFF have invested more into football. A new football league was launched, and investment from FIFA’s Goal Project to improve the infrastructure within Pakistan have helped. One of the venues of the national football team is 48,800 capacity Jinnah Sports Stadium.
History
Pakistan lost their first international 5–1 away to Iran on January 6, 1950. Two years later they entered the Colombo Cup in Ceylon, and were held to goalless draw in the first match against India. They then beat hosts Ceylon 2–0 and a 1–0 win in their final match against Burma made them joint champions with India.
Pakistan then hosted Iran in April and drew 0–0. The following year Pakistan were runners-up in the Colombo Cup, having achieved a 6–0 win against Ceylon in Rangoon. In 1954, after again becoming runners up in the Colombo Cup, Pakistan defeated Singapore 6–2 in the Asian Games; this followed a 2–1 loss to Burma. In the final edition of the Colombo Cup, the Greenshirts came second for the third year in a row to India. Pakistan failed to progress in the 1958 Asian Games after being defeated by Chinese Taipei 3–1 and a 1–1 draw to South Vietnam.
In 1959, they failed to qualify for the Asian Cup, after a 4–1 loss by Iran, 1–0 defeat to India and 2–0 loss to Israel. However, Pakistan earned their first win against India when they defeated them 1–0, and were able to reverse the score in the second match against Iran with a 4–1 victory and held Israel to a 2–2 draw.
Several months later, the Greenshirts travelled to Malaya for the Merdeka Cup. They started by beating Thailand 7–0, which still shares the Pakistani record. It was followed by a 1–0 loss to the hosts Malaya, then a 3–1 victory over Japan and finally a 4–0 defeat to Indonesia. Pakistan returned to the Merdeka Cup two years later and this time reached the final against Indonesia, but succumbed to 2–1 defeat.
It was three years before Pakistan played another competitive fixture, when they played in the first RDC Cup and finished third. In 1967, they played a series of friendlies against Saudi Arabia, all ending in draws. Later in the year Pakistan lost their Asian Cup qualifiers against Burma and Khmer and drew their final match against India. They then hosted the second RDC Cup and finished third, which included the 4–7 defeat to Turkey. In 1969, they travelled to Iran to take part in friendly tournament, in which they had a 2–1 win against Iraq and a record 9–1 defeat by Iran.
As a result of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, East Pakistan became The People's Republic of Bangladesh and consequently the Pakistani team lost the right to call upon Bengali players. In the early 1970s the national side's participation was restricted to the RDC Cup and the 1974 Asian Games, and a single friendly against South Korea in 1978. The most notable result in this period was a 2–2 draw against Turkey.
In the King's Cup in 1982, Pakistan secured a goalless draw against Indonesia, the Greenshirts first clean sheet since 1962. After a loss to Thailand, they gained a 3–2 victory versus Malaysia and although they lost a close game against China, they were able to win 1–0 in their final game against Singapore.
Pakistan hosted a friendly tournament involving Iran, Bangladesh, Oman and Nepal in 1982. The Greenshirts started off with a 2–1 over Bangladesh. They lost to Iran, but came back and beat Nepal 2–0. The last game against Oman ended nil-nil and Pakistan ended the tournament as runners-up. However, in 1984, the national team lost 4 out of 5 games in the Asian Cup qualifiers, the only victory coming against North Yemen 4–1.
The Greenshirts hosted another tournament in 1985, this time inviting North Korea, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal. A goalless draw against the North Koreans boosted the side, and they beat Nepal 1–0. However, losses in the final two games against Bangladesh and Indonesia meant they were again runners up. In the South Asian Games, Pakistan ended fourth after losing a penalty shoot out to Nepal.
In the 1986 Asian Games, Pakistan lost all their games. However, a year later the side was more successful at the South Asian Games, winning the bronze medal match against Bangladesh 1–0. In 1988, they lost all their Asian Cup qualifiers. Pakistan made their first attempt to qualify for the World Cup in 1989. However, they were unable to win any of their matches. The Greenshirts bounced back, when several months later they took Gold at the South Asian Games, beating Bangladesh 1–0 in the final.
The Greenshirts had another early exit in the Asian Games, losing all three games in 1990. In the 1991 South Asian Games, Pakistan beat the Maldives in the final 2–0 to win their second Gold. The next year they failed to qualify for another Asian Cup after defeats in both qualifiers, after a World Cup qualifying campaign in 1993 where in one game they lost to Iraq 8–0. Later in the year the first SAFF Cup took place, and the Greenshirts finished fourth, but at the 1993 South Asian Games, they were unable to get past the group stage.
In 1995, Pakistan went out of the SAFF Cup group stage on goal difference. Between 1996 and 1997, the Greenshirts lost all their Asian Cup and World Cup qualifying games. Pakistan came third in the 1997 SAFF Cup, thanks to a 1–0 victory over Sri Lanka in the third place playoff. The 1999 SAFF Cup saw Pakistan finish bottom of their group, and the Greenshirts also failed to get out of the group stage of the final South Asian Games to hold full internationals.
Pakistan were unable to win any of their 2000 Asian Cup qualifiers. The following year Pakistan achieved their first point in World Cup qualification, thanks to a hat-trick by Gohar Zaman in a 3–3 draw against Sri Lanka, but all other matches ended in defeat.
In 2002, Pakistan played in an unsuccessful four match series against Sri Lanka. At the 2003 SAFF Cup, Pakistan finished fourth, losing 2–1 in extra time to India in the third place playoff. Later in the year, Pakistan won their first Asian Cup qualifier with a 3–0 over Macao, but still were unable to qualify. They rounded off the year with defeats to Kyrgyzstan in the World Cup qualifiers.
2004 saw changes in Pakistan football, with at new administration in place by this time and a new national league up and running. A victory against India in a three match series, the final match ending 3–0 to the Greenshirts, followed, and they went on the reach the semi-finals of the 2005 SAFF Cup. They lost the semifinal against defending champion Bangladesh by 0–1 margin.
The Pakistan team lost their first two Asian Cup qualifiers in 2006, in between which they took part in the first AFC Challenge Cup 2006. They failed to get past the group stage, but beat Kyrgyzstan 1–0. Back at the Asian Cup qualifiers, they lost their remaining fixtures.
In the World Cup qualifiers in 2007, they fell to a heavy defeat by the Asian champions Iraq and after the 7–0 loss, little was expected on them in the second leg. However, the Greenshirts held them to a goalless draw. In 2008, Pakistan travelled to Nepal for two friendlies before taking on the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers. Although they won against Chinese Taipei 2–1 in the first match, and beat Guam in a record-equalling 9–2 win in the final match, other results, including a 7–1 defeat to Sri Lanka, saw them again fail to reach the finals.
In the SAFF Championship 2008, Pakistan failed to go beyond the group stages, losing to Maldives 3–0, India 2–1 and Nepal 4–1, which signaled the end of Akhtar Mohiuddin's tenure as head coach.
After Mohiuddin’s departure, Austrian-Hungarian coach George Kottan was hired and the veteran tactician took a star-studded team to the SAFF Championship 2009. Despite calling upon foreign players such as Adnan Ahmed, Shabir Khan, Amjad Iqbal, Atif Bashir and Reis Ashraf, the side were unable were defeat 1-0 by Sri Lanka, before drawing 0-0 with Bangladesh as former Manchester United star Adnan missed a late penalty to seal a win. Pakistan trounced Bhutan 7-0 in their last game, but it was all for nothing, as the best team in the tournament according to the locals exited even before the semi-finals.
After Kottan’s sacking in February 2010, Pakistan had no senior games during the entire calendar year but saw the appointment of Tottenham Hotspur legend Graham Roberts for the U-23 Team. For the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 qualifiers in 2011, KRL FC coach Tariq Lutfi was called up once more and failed to deliver emphatically.
Defeats such as the 3-0 against Turkmenistan and 3-1 against India meant that the side were already out of the qualifiers despite beating Chinese Taipei by 2-0. Later in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in July, Bangladesh thoroughly beat Pakistan 3-0 in Dhaka, before earning a 0-0 draw in Lahore a few days later.
That saw the end of Lutfi’s reign, with Serbian boss Zaviša Milosavljević taking over in November 2011 right before the SAFF Championship 2011. Despite having little time to influence the team, Zavisa managed to hold Bangladesh 0-0, Maldives 0-0 and Nepal 1-1 in the India-hosted SAFF Championship 2011. However, they were unable to progress into the semi-finals and returned home.
2012’s sole game was witnessed in November against Singapore, who thrashed Pakistan 4-0 at home. The Green Kickers then started 2013 with a bang, winning two games against Nepal with identical 1-0 margins thanks to the brilliance of Hassan Bashir. A 1-1 draw with Maldives followed, but with congested fixtures Pakistan ended up losing the last game 3-0 in Male.
Pakistan then played the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification in Bishkek, losing out 1-0 to Tajikistan in injury-time.Kyrgyzstan also won 1-0 against the Pak Shaheens after scoring in the 1st minute, but with Hassan Bashir returning, Pakistan comfortably beat Macau 2-0.
Pakistan played a friendly against Afghanistan in August, losing 3-0 emphatically without their foreign-based players. Coach Zaviša Milosavljević was sacked and replaced by Bahrain's Mohammad Al-Shamlan, who acted as a coaching consultant to Shahzad Anwar in the 2013 SAFF Championship
The Shaheens played their hearts out, but were unable to defeat India and lost 1-0 after horrendous own-goal from Samar Ishaq. Against hosts Nepal , Hassan Bashir scored an early goal, only to see 15-year-old Bimal Gharti Magar level things in injury-time. However, Pakistan beat Bangladesh 2-1 and were unlucky not to reach the semi-finals after losing out on head-to-head with India.
Current squad
The following players were selected for the 2013 Philippine Peace Cup.
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
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22 | GK | Muzammil Hussain | 6 September 1994 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
12 | GK | Saqib Hanif | 28 April 1994 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
18 | GK | Yousuf Butt | 18 October 1989 | 9 | 0 | ![]() |
13 | DF | Ahsanullah | 13 December 1992 | 4 | 0 | ![]() |
3 | DF | Mohammad Ahmed | 3 January 1988 | 12 | 0 | ![]() |
14 | DF | Hameed Khan | 21 March 1990 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
30 | DF | Sufyan Asif | 3 September 1994 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
20 | DF | Rizwan Asif | 8 January 1990 | 9 | 0 | ![]() |
23 | DF | Faisal Iqbal | 8 April 1992 | 18 | 0 | ![]() |
25 | DF | Zesh Rehman(c) | 14 October 1983 | 16 | 1 | ![]() |
21 | MF | Muhammad Adil | 9 July 1992 | 19 | 0 | ![]() |
16 | MF | Mehmood Khan | 10 June 1991 | 4 | 0 | ![]() |
27 | MF | Mohammad Bilal | 21 December 1993 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
28 | MF | Zainullah | 25 December 1991 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
17 | MF | Bilalwal-ur-Rehman | 4 October 1993 | 2 | 0 | ![]() |
29 | MF | Saddam Hussain | 4 February 1990 | 8 | 0 | ![]() |
11 | FW | Hassan Bashir | 7 January 1987 | 13 | 3 | ![]() |
10 | FW | Kalim Ullah | 9 August 1992 | 23 | 3 | ![]() |
38 | FW | Muhammad Ali | 7 January 1987 | 8 | 0 | ![]() |
Coaches
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Pak_Coaching_Staff.jpg/250px-Pak_Coaching_Staff.jpg)
Coaching staff
Head Coach | ![]() |
Assistant Coach | ![]() |
Goalkeeping Coach | ![]() |
Team Doctor & Physiotherapist | ![]() |
Match record
Official A-team matches only
Name | Period | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Honours |
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September 1987 – October 1990 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 11 | |
Coaching committees from 1990 to 2000 | ||||||
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January 2000 – March 2001 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
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March 2001 – January 2002 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
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January 2002 – March 2003 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | |
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November 2003 – October 2005 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
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November 2005 – August 2007 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | |
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September 2007 – September 2008 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 5 | |
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October 2008 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
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February 2009 – February 2010 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
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March 2011 – November 2011 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |
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November 2011– August 2013 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
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September 2013 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
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September 2013 – | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Competition records
FIFA World Cup record
Asian Cup record
AFC Challenge Cup record
South Asian Football Federation Cup record
RCD Cup/ECO Cup record
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Merdeka Cup record
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King’s Cup record
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Colombo Cup record
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Peace Cup record
Year | Round |
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Runners-Up |
| class="col-break col-break-2" |
See also
References
- ^ Bojan Jovanovic, Majeed Panahi, Pieter Veroeveren. "Asian Nations Cup 1956". RSSSF. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Mark Cruickshank, Bojan Jovanovic, Majeed Panahi, Hyung-Jin Yoon, Yaniv Bleicher. "Asian Nations Cup 1964". RSSSF. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
India were to play with Iran, Pakistan and a couple of other teams that were to be played either on home and away basis, or a special tournament, but all the teams involved refused to play India due to political reasons at that time and thus India were awarded a place in the Asia Cup Finals.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Bojan Jovanovic, Majeed Panahi, Asghar Zarei, Pieter Veroeveren. "Asian Nations Cup 1976". RSSSF. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)