Cap (sport)

For the physical headgear, see Cap.

Various international honours caps

In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the early days of football, the concept of each team wearing a set of matching shirts had not been universally adopted, so each side would distinguish itself from the other by wearing a specific sort of cap.

An early illustration of the first international football match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. The practice was first approved on 10 May 1886 for association football after a proposal made by N. Lane Jackson , founder of the Corinthians:

That all players taking part for England in future international matches be presented with a white silk cap with red rose embroidered on the front. These to be termed International Caps. ^{[1] [2]}

The act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Although in some sports physical caps may not now always be given (whether at all or for each appearance) the term cap for an international or other appearance has been retained as an indicator of the number of occasions on which a sportsperson has represented a team in a particular sport. Thus, a "cap" is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games for the team is said to have been capped x times or have won x caps.

The practice of awarding a physical cap varies from sport to sport. It may be awarded before a player's debut or, particularly for national teams, a commemorative cap may be awarded after a player reaches the 100th cap. ^{[3] [4]}

Association football

Some men's association football teams still award physical caps. Players are awarded one cap for every match they play – unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament, then they are given a single cap for the competition, with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself. For example, when David Beckham made his one-hundredth appearance for England, because a number of his appearances had been at World Cup and European Championship final tournaments for which he could only receive one cap, he received only his 85th physical cap. ^[5] In Scotland, for many years the practice was to present caps only for appearances in the British Home Championship, meaning that several players never received one (including those in their 1958 FIFA World Cup squad); this anomaly was rectified retrospectively in the 2000s after pressure from players' families. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

FIFA recognises certain international games as ones where a player can be awarded a cap – these games are regarded as International "A" games. These are matches in which both nations field their first Representative Team. ^[9]

Records

See also: List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps, Progression of association football caps record, and List of women's footballers with 100 or more international caps

The world record holder for the highest number of international caps as of 5 November 2010 is retired American player Kristine Lilly, who has 354 caps. In men's association football, the record belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal; he surpassed Bader Al-Mutawa with his 197th cap on 23 March 2023, before extending his record to 198 caps on 26 March 2023. The first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of England's Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England, 90 of them he obtained whilst he was a captain.

Bold denotes players currently active in international football.

Men As of 6 December 2022 [10] [ failed verification ] Most caps in men's association football Rank Caps Name Country Career 1 203 Cristiano Ronaldo   Portugal 2003–Present 2 196 Bader Al-Mutawa   Kuwait 2003–Present 3 195 Soh Chin Ann   Malaysia 1969–1984 4 184 Ahmed Hassan   Egypt 1995–2012 5 180 Sergio Ramos [11]   Spain 2005–2023 Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri   Oman 2003–Present 7 179 Andrés Guardado   Mexico 2005–Present 8 177 Mohamed Al-Deayea   Saudi Arabia 1993–2006 Claudio Suárez   Mexico 1992–2006 10 176 Gianluigi Buffon   Italy 1997–2018

Women As of 15 November 2022 Most caps in women's association football Rank Caps Name Country Career 1 354 Kristine Lilly   United States 1987–2010 2 319 Christine Sinclair   Canada 2000–2023 3 311 Christie Pearce   United States 1997–2015 4 307 Carli Lloyd   United States 2005–2021 5 276 Mia Hamm   United States 1987–2004 6 274 Julie Foudy   United States 1988–2004 7 255 Abby Wambach   United States 2001–2015 8 241 Joy Fawcett   United States 1987–2004 9 232 Caroline Seger   Sweden 2005–Present 10 231 Heather O'Reilly   United States 2002–2016

Cricket

See also: Cricket cap and List of Test cricket records § Individual records (other)

As in association football, cricket still awards a physical cap. Caps are awarded both at international and domestic level, however the criterion for winning a cap differs between international and domestic cricket.

In international cricket, a player is awarded a cap for every appearance made. It is common for a player to be presented with their cap in a ceremony on the first morning of their maiden Test match, although a physical cap may not be presented for every occasion on which a player represents his country. International caps are numbered according to the number of players who have represented the country before. For example, cap number 50 is awarded to the fiftieth player to represent the country.

In some domestic cricket competitions, caps are also awarded. However, they are not awarded automatically for every appearance made, but instead at the discretion of the administrators of the club for whom the recipient plays, and are a one-off recognition that the recipient is now a regular, established player for the club. The most prevalent example of this system is in Englishcounty cricket, in which many First Class counties award a "county cap" to players.

As of April 2021, 70 players have won 100 or more caps in Test cricket.

Records

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

As of 9 April 2022 [12] Most caps in men's test cricket Rank Caps Name Country Career 1 200 Sachin Tendulkar India 1989–2013 2 178 James Anderson England 2003–present 3 168 Ricky Ponting Australia 1995–2012 Steve Waugh Australia 1985–2004 5 166 Jacques Kallis South Africa ICC World XI 1995–2013 6 164 Shivnarine Chanderpaul West Indies 1994–2015 Rahul Dravid India ICC World XI 1996–2012 8 161 Alastair Cook England 2006–2018 9 156 Allan Border Australia 1978–1994 10 160 Stuart Broad England 2007-2023 Notes ^ For South Africa, current cap numbers start from their readmission to Test cricket.

As of 9 April 2022 [13] Most caps in men's one-day international cricket Rank Caps Name Country Career 1 463 Sachin Tendulkar India 1989–2012 2 448 Mahela Jayawardene Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI 1998–2015 3 445 Sanath Jayasuriya Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI 1989–2011 4 404 Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI ICC World XI 2000–2015 5 398 Shahid Afridi Pakistan ACC Asia XI ICC World XI 1996–2015 6 378 Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan ACC Asia XI 1991–2007 7 375 Ricky Ponting Australia ICC World XI 1995–2012 8 356 Wasim Akram Pakistan 1984–2003 9 350 MS Dhoni India ACC Asia XI 2004–2019 Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI ICC World XI 1993–2011

Rugby union

See also: List of rugby union Test caps leaders

In rugby union, 64 players have reached 100 international caps as of 27 Oct 2019. Players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are eligible for selection to the British & Irish Lions touring squad. Lions matches are classed as full international tests, and caps are awarded. The Pacific Islanders team, composed of players from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Cook Islands have a similar arrangement, although no players involved have so far reached 100 caps (Fijian Nicky Little is closest with 71 caps).

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

As of 8 June 2020 ^[14]

Most caps in men's rugby union

Rank	Caps	Name	Country	Career
1	166	Alun Wyn Jones	Wales   British & Irish Lions	2006–2023
2	151	Sam Whitelock	New Zealand	2010-
3	148	Richie McCaw	New Zealand	2001–2015
4	142	Sergio Parisse	Italy	2002–2019
5	141	Brian O'Driscoll	Ireland   British & Irish Lions	1999–2014
6	139	George Gregan	Australia	1994–2007
7	134	Gethin Jenkins	Wales   British & Irish Lions	2002–2016
8	132	Keven Mealamu	New Zealand	2002–2015
9	130	Ronan O'Gara	Ireland   British & Irish Lions	2000–2013
10	129	Stephen Moore	Australia	2005–2017
11	127	Victor Matfield	South Africa	2001–2015
		Kieran Read	New Zealand	2008–2019

Rugby league

The International Rugby League honours players that have made 50 international appearances in their career with a special golden cap. ^[15] The record for most caps is held by former Australian Kangaroos player and captain Darren Lockyer with 59 matches.

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

As of 8 June 2020

Most caps in men's rugby league

Rank	Caps	Name	Country	Career
1	59	Darren Lockyer	Australia	1998–2011
2	56	Cameron Smith	Australia	2006–2017
3	55	Ruben Wiki	New Zealand	1994–2006
4	54	Jim Sullivan	Wales Great Britain England	1921–1934
5	53	James Graham	Great Britain England	2006–2019
		Adrian Morley	Great Britain England	1996–2012
7	51	Adam Blair	New Zealand	2006–2019
		Petero Civoniceva	Australia Fiji	2001–2014
9	50	Mick Sullivan	Great Britain England	1954–1962
10	47	Ryan Hall	Great Britain England	2009-2022
11	46	Puig Aubert	France	1946–1956
		Gary Freeman	New Zealand	1986–1996
		Stacey Jones	New Zealand	1995–2006
		Mal Meninga	Australia	1982–1994

Netball

Physical caps are not distributed by the International Netball Federation but the term is still widely used to signify appearances. Irene van Dyk has won the most international caps having represented two nations after her switch to the Silver Ferns, a move that was allowed as the INF rules only prohibited players from representing two nations in one calendar year. Mary Waya is the only other woman to have earned over 200 caps in her thirty-year career, with exact numbers being difficult to confirm. ^[16]

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

As of 7 July 2020

Most caps in women's international netball

Rank	Caps	Name	Country	Career
1	217	Irene van Dyk	South Africa (72) New Zealand (145)	1994–2014
2	205	Mary Waya	Malawi	1984–2014
3	176	Jade Clarke	England	2002–
4	159	Nadine Bryan	Jamaica	1997–
5	151	Laura Langman	New Zealand	2003–2020
6	150	Maria Folau	New Zealand	2005–2019
7	146	Geva Mentor	England	2001–
8	138	Leana de Bruin	South Africa (34) New Zealand (104)	1996–2016
9	137	Katrina Rore	New Zealand	2008–
10	127	Lesley MacDonald	Scotland	1999–2014

References

1. "What does the term 'Cap' mean in sport?". albionsports.wordpress.com. 4 February 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
2. "England's Caps". www.englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
3. "All Blacks century-makers: What it takes to crack 100". The New Zealand Herald . 9 October 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
4. "Steven Gerrard memorabilia to be exhibited at Anfield". Sky Sports. 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
5. "Don't tell anyone, but this is only Beckham's 85th cap". Reuters . Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
6. Paul Weaver (21 November 2005). "Tale of injustice that prompted a son to shine". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
7. Eddie Turnbull: Having a Ball Archived 24 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine , Eddie Turnbull, Martin Hannan; Random House, 2012, ISBN   9781780574684
8. Shades: The Short Life and Tragic Death of Erich Schaedler Archived 24 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine , Colin Leslie; Black & White Publishing, 2013, ISBN   9781845027308
9. "Regulations Governing International Matches" (PDF). FIFA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
10. "FIFA Century Club" (PDF). FIFA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
11. Cortegana, Mario. "Spain defender Sergio Ramos retires from international football". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
12. "Individual Records". stats.espncricinfo.com. ESPN Cricinfo. 8 June 2020. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
13. "One-Day International Records". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
14. "Player Records – Total Matches Played". ESPN Scum. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
15. "RLIF to award 'golden caps'". TotalRL.com. Total Rugby League. 7 November 2018. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
16. "Mary Waya". LinkedIn Slide Share. 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2020.

External links

• Men's Records and Facts—FIFA
• Players with 100+ Caps (men) RSSSF
• Picture of International Football Cap—National Museum of Scotland
• Gallery of International Caps and Honours Caps