The Pakistan national field hockey team (Urdu: پاکستان قومى ہاكى ٹیم) represents Pakistan in international men's field hockey.[1] Pakistan is administered by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the governing body for hockey in Pakistan. They have been a member of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) since 1948 and founding member of the Asian Hockey Federation (ASHF) which formed in 1958.[2] Pakistan is the most successful national field hockey team in the Hockey World Cup with four championships: 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994. Pakistan also has the best overall performance in World Cup history in both proportional and absolute terms with 53 victories in 84 matches played, seven time draws, six appearances in the finals and only 24 losses. Pakistan national team has played in all FIH World Cup editions with only one absence in 2014. The green shirts is also one of the most successful national teams 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 have 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 being the national sport of the country,[3][4] Pakistan national team has been ranked as the #1 team in the world from 2000 till 2001 by FIH, and former captain Sohail Abbas holds the world record for the most international goals scored by a player[5] in the history of international field hockey, with a tally of 348 goals.[6] Waseem Ahmad holds the record for Pakistan appearances, having played 410 times between 1996 and 2012.[7]
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 twenty major tournaments finals so far, out of which Pakistan has won thirteen 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. Pakistan's home ground is National Hockey Stadium, in Lahore, and the current team manager is Hanif Khan.
History
Early history (1948–58)
The first Pakistan national hockey team ever, 1948.
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. On 2 August 1948, Pakistan national team, led by Ali Iqtidar Shah Dara, officially went on to play their first international game and tournament against Belgium winning the game 2–0 at the 1948 London Olympics. Pakistan remained unbeaten defeating the Netherlands, Denmark and France during the group stage round and ended up placing fourth, as did the Pakistan team at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
The Rise in Olympics (1958–70)
For the 1958 Asian Games, 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 and clinched its first gold medal in an international competition.[8] This success was followed by 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.[9]
In the 1962 Asian Games, Pakistan earned its second gold medal with Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool[10] as the captain leading the team to another successive award.[11] 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.[12] 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.
In 1969, President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), Air Marshal Nur Khan was the first senior hockey official who had floated the idea of organizing field hockey's very own World Cup. He proposed his idea to the FIH through Patrick Rowley, the first editor of World Hockey magazine. Their idea was approved on October 26, 1969, and adopted by the FIH Council at a meeting in Brussels on April 12, 1970. The FIH decided that the inaugural World Cup would be held in October 1971, in Pakistan. Khan went on to donate the World Cup trophy and later the Champions Trophy to the International Hockey Federation.[13]
The Golden Era (1970–89)
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.
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.[14] On March 27, 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.
In 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[15] 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 war in Afghanistan.[16] 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[17] a year later, held at the Hockey Club of Pakistan, Karachi.
Decline and World Cup drought (2004–14)
The national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
From 2004 till 2014, the team secured third positions, at the 2004 Champions Trophy held in Lahore and 2012 Champions Trophy held in Melbourne as well as a runners-up medal after losing 2–0 to Germany at the 2014 Champions Trophy, however, it failed to win a single top position in the 2005–11 tournaments; a runners-up medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and finishing at the sixth spot in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and won a runners-up medal at the 2004 and 2011 Sultan Azlan Shah Cups with a bronze medal in 2005. In the Asian Games, Pakistan finished with a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games, found its only success by winning 2–0 against Malaysia at the 2010 Asian Games final round held in Guangzhou, China and securing a runners-up medal at the 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea. Since the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games, Pakistan has not won a single medal at the games, while 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing and 2012 London have the been the worst Olympics for Pakistan by far as the national team failed to win the competition and had to play for the 5th, 7th and 8th position match at the three Olympic tournaments.
The Pakistani national team most successful tournament, in recent times, has been the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy winning the trophy twice, first in 2012 against India and second in 2013 against Japan, and finishing as runners-up in the first edition of Asian Hockey Champions Trophy in 2011. The team also won gold medals consecutively at the 2006 and 2010 South Asian Games. However, Pakistan participated in the 2006 and 2010 World cups but failed to qualify past the group stage, and, for the first time in its history, the team did not gain qualification for the 2014 edition of the competition.
2015–present
In the 2016 South Asian Games, Pakistan defended their gold medal after winning 2–1 against archrivals India, with both goals scored by Arslan Qadir, held in Guwahati.
Team image
Logo
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, gold or white color, as represented in the flag of Pakistan.
Home stadium
For the first thirty years of their existence, Pakistan played their home matches all around the country. They initially used cricket grounds before later moving on to polo stadiums. Pakistan played at a number of different venues across the country, though by the time of 1978 this had largely settled down to having National Hockey Stadium (also known as Gadaffi Hockey Stadium, named after former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi) in Lahore as the primary venue, with Faisalabad Hockey Stadium and 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.[18]
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has its headquarters in the stadium. It 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.
Players
- For all past and present players who have appeared for the national team, see List of Pakistani field hockey players.
Current players
Notable players
Honours and recognition
Since its breakthrough in the 1948 Summer Olympics, Pakistan has won more than 20 official titles, which are detailed below:
- World Cup (6 medals):
- Champions Trophy (17 medals):
- Gold medal (3): 1978, 1980, 1994
- Silver medal (7): 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2014
- Bronze medal (7): 1986, 1992, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2012,
- Asian Champions Trophy (4 medals):
- Asia Cup (8 medals):
- Gold medal (3): 1982, 1985, 1989
- Silver medal (3): 1999, 2003, 2009
- Bronze medal (2): 1993, 2013
- Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (11 medals):
- Asian Games (14 medals):
- Gold medal (8): 1958, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 2010
- Silver medal (3): 1966, 1986, 2014
- Bronze medal (3): 1994, 1998, 2006
- South Asian Games (4 medals):
- Commonwealth Games (2 medals):
- Silver medal (1): 2006
- Bronze medal (1): 2002
- Afro-Asian Games (1 medal):
- Summer Olympics (8 medals):
- Hockey Champions Challenge (1 medal):
Records
Tournament records
| World Cup[19][20] |
|---|
| Year |
Host city |
Position |
| 1971 |
 Barcelona, Spain |
1st |
| 1973 |
 Amstelveen, Netherlands |
4th |
| 1975 |
 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
2nd |
| 1978 |
 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
1st |
| 1982 |
 Mumbai, India |
1st |
| 1986 |
 London, England |
11th |
| 1990 |
 Lahore, Pakistan |
2nd |
| 1994 |
 Sydney, Australia |
1st |
| 1998 |
Utrecht, Netherlands |
5th |
| 2002 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
5th |
| 2006 |
 Mönchengladbach, Germany |
6th |
| 2010 |
New Delhi, India |
12th |
| 2014 |
The Hague, Netherlands |
DNQ |
| 2018 |
Bhubaneswar, India |
TBD |
| Champions Trophy[21] |
|---|
| Year |
Host city |
Position |
| 1978 |
Lahore, Pakistan |
1st |
| 1980 |
Karachi, Pakistan |
1st |
| 1981 |
Karachi, Pakistan |
4th |
| 1982 |
Amstelveen, Netherlands |
4th |
| 1983 |
Karachi, Pakistan |
2nd |
| 1984 |
Karachi, Pakistan |
2nd |
| 1985 |
Perth, Australia |
4th |
| 1986 |
Karachi, Pakistan |
3rd |
| 1987 |
Amstelveen, Netherlands |
7th |
| 1988 |
Karachi, Pakistan |
2nd |
| 1989 |
Berlin, West Germany |
4th |
| 1990 |
Melbourne, Australia |
4th |
| 1991 |
Berlin, Germany |
2nd |
| 1992 |
Karachi, Pakistan |
4th |
| 1993 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
4th |
| 1994 |
Lahore, Pakistan |
1st |
| 1995 |
Berlin, Germany |
3rd |
| 1996 |
Madras, India |
2nd |
| 1997 |
Adelaide, Australia |
5th |
| 1998 |
Lahore, Pakistan |
2nd |
| 1999 |
Brisbane, Australia |
6th |
| 2000 |
Amstelveen, Netherlands |
DNP |
| 2001 |
Rotterdam, Netherlands |
4th |
| 2002 |
Cologne, Germany |
3rd |
| 2003 |
Amstelveen, Netherlands |
3rd |
| 2004 |
Lahore, Pakistan |
3rd |
| 2005 |
Chennai, India |
5th |
| 2006 |
Terrassa, Spain |
5th |
| 2007 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
7th |
| 2008 |
Rotterdam, Netherlands |
DNP |
| 2009 |
Melbourne, Australia |
DNP |
| 2010 |
Mönchengladbach, Germany |
DNP |
| 2011 |
 Auckland, New Zealand |
7th |
| 2012 |
Melbourne, Australia |
3rd |
| 2014 |
Bhubaneswar, India |
2nd |
| 2016 |
London, England |
DNP |
| Sultan Azlan Shah Cup |
|---|
| Year |
Host city |
Position |
| 1983 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
2nd |
| 1985 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
3rd |
| 1987 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
2nd |
| 1991 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
2nd |
| 1994 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
2nd |
| 1995 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
DNP |
| 1996 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
DNP |
| 1998 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
1st |
| 1999 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
DNP |
| 2000 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
1st |
| 2001 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
4th |
| 2003 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
1st |
| 2004 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
2nd |
| 2005 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
3rd |
| 2006 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
5th |
| 2007 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
6th |
| 2008 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
4th |
| 2009 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
4th |
| 2010 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
5th |
| 2011 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
2nd |
| 2012 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
7th |
| 2013 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
6th |
| 2014 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
2nd |
| 2015 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
DNP |
| 2016 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
5th |
|
| Asian Games |
|---|
| Year |
Host city |
Position |
| 1958 |
 Tokyo, Japan |
1st |
| 1962 |
 Jakarta, Indonesia |
1st |
| 1966 |
 Bangkok, Thailand |
2nd |
| 1970 |
Bangkok, Thailand |
1st |
| 1974 |
 Tehran, Iran |
1st |
| 1978 |
Bangkok, Thailand |
1st |
| 1982 |
New Delhi, India |
1st |
| 1986 |
 Seongnam, South Korea |
2nd |
| 1990 |
 Beijing, China |
1st |
| 1994 |
Hiroshima, Japan |
3rd |
| 1998 |
Bangkok, Thailand |
3rd |
| 2002 |
Busan, South Korea |
4th |
| 2006 |
 Doha, Qatar |
3rd |
| 2010 |
Guangzhou, China |
1st |
| 2014 |
Incheon, South Korea |
2nd |
| Olympic Games[22] |
|---|
| Year |
Host city |
Position |
| 1948 |
 London, United Kingdom |
4th |
| 1952 |
 Helsinki, Finland |
4th |
|
| 1956 |
Melbourne, Australia |
2nd |
| 1960 |
 Rome, Italy |
1st |
| 1964 |
Tokyo, Japan |
2nd |
| 1968 |
 Mexico City, Mexico |
1st |
| 1972 |
Munich, West Germany |
2nd |
| 1976 |
 Montreal, Canada |
3rd |
| 1980 |
 Moscow, Soviet Union |
DNP |
| 1984 |
 Los Angeles, United States |
1st |
| 1988 |
Seoul, South Korea |
5th |
| 1992 |
Barcelona, Spain |
3rd |
| 1996 |
Atlanta, United States |
6th |
| 2000 |
Sydney, Australia |
4th |
| 2004 |
 Athens, Greece |
5th |
| 2008 |
Beijing, China |
8th |
| 2012 |
London, United Kingdom |
7th |
| 2016 |
 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
DNQ |
| 2020 |
Tokyo, Japan |
TBD |
Gallery
See also
References
External links
| Pakistan squads |
|---|
|
| Pakistan Summer Olympics squads |
|---|
| |
| Pakistan World Cup squads |
|---|
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|
| Links to related articles |
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(October 2016)
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, (Bangkok, 15 December 1978)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Glasgow, Scotland
Lala Abdul Rashid was a member of Pakistan's gold medal–winning 1960 Olympic field hockey team.
Gulraiz Akhtar at extreme right, after a goal in 1968 Olympic games.
