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 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament, 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 10 June 2025 ^[3]

Players in bold are still active with Pakistan.

Most appearances

Haroon Yousaf is Pakistan's most capped player with 49 appearances.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Period
1	Haroon Yousaf	49	3	1992–2003
2	Jaffar Khan	47	0	2001–2013
3	Samar Ishaq	44	3	2006–2013
4	Zafar Iqbal	40	1	1985–1995
	Muhammad Essa	40	11	2001–2009
6	Tanveer Ahmed	31	3	1999–2008
	Yousuf Butt	31	0	2012–present
8	Sharafat Ali	30	12	1984–1992
	Mohammad Tariq Hussain	30	0	1987–2003
10	Hassan Bashir	29	9	2012–2023

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 such as Zafar Iqbal & 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

See also: List of Pakistan national football team hat-tricks

Muhammad Umer is Pakistan's all-time top scorer recorded with 14 goals.

Rank	Player	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Period
1	Muhammad Umer	14	—	—	1956–1965
2	Sharafat Ali	12	30	0.4	1984–1992
3	Moosa Ghazi	11	—	—	1955–1967
	Muhammad Essa	11	40	0.28	2001–2009
5	Masood Fakhri	10	—	—	1952–1955
6	Hassan Bashir	9	29	0.31	2012–2023
7	Qayyum Changezi	7	—	—	1955–1963
	Arif Mehmood	7	21	0.33	2005–2012
9	Ghulam Sarwar	6	16	0.38	1984–1992
	Muhammad Nauman Khan	6	14	0.43	1991–1997
	Sarfraz Rasool	6	23	0.26	1997–2003

Captains

Main article: List of Pakistan national football team 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

See also: List of Pakistan national football team managers

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
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
2019	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	1	3
2023										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
1986	Round 1	4	0	0	4	2	15
1990	Round 1	3	0	0	3	1	16
1994	Did not enter
1998
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

RCD Cup

Pakistan at the 1974 RCD Cup

RCD 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
Total	5/6	10	0	1	9	14	38

Head-to-head record

See also: Pakistan national football team results

Opponents of Pakistan men's national football team, as of June 2019.

Last match updated :   Myanmar on 10 June 2025 ^{[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  )	9	3	2	4	10	14	−4	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
Syria	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	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	252	57	42	151	235	568	−333	45 Nations

Other records

Biggest victories

• Pakistan   7–0   Thailand (5 August 1960)
• Pakistan   9–2   Guam (6 April 2008)
• Pakistan   7–0   Bhutan (8 December 2009)

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

See also

• Pakistan national football team
• Pakistan national football team results
• List of Pakistan national football team hat-tricks

Notes

1. 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

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.
4. "World Football Elo Ratings". www.eloratings.net. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
5. "Pakistan". worldfootball.net. 2014-08-17. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
6. 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.