Pakistan men's national field hockey team

Pakistan
Nickname(s)Green Shirts; Green Machines
AssociationPakistan Hockey Federation (PHF)
ConfederationAHF (Asia)
Head CoachAyaz Mehmood
Assistant coach(es)Rehan Butt , Muhammad Saqlain, Dilawar Hussain
ManagerShahnaz Sheikh
CaptainMuhammad Umar Bhutta
Most capsWaseem Ahmad (410)[1]
Top scorerSohail Abbas (348)[2]
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 15 Increase 1 (12 March 2024)[3]
Highest4 (2000)
Lowest20 (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
Appearances16 (first in 1948)
Best resultGold Champions (1960, 1968, 1984)
World Cup
Appearances13 (first in 1971)
Best resultGold Champions (1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994)
Asian Games
Appearances17 (first in 1958)
Best resultGold Champions (1958, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 2010)
Asia Cup
Appearances11 (first in 1982)
Best resultGold 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
Total 24 21 15

The Pakistan national field hockey team (Urdu: پاکستان قومى ہاكى ٹیم)[4] 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.[5] 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.[6][7] 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.[8] Waseem Ahmad is the most-capped player for the team, having played 410 times between 1996 and 2013.[9]

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.[10]

  1. ^ "Meet the men for the FIH's Athletes' Committee elections".
  2. ^ "Who is the Drag Flick King, Sohail Abbas?". 24 September 2019.
  3. ^ "FIH Outdoor World Hockey Rankings". FIH. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Welcome to Pakistan Olympic Association". Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Asian Hockey Federation: About Us". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Sport in Pakistan". Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  7. ^ Khan, M. Ilyas (8 August 2012). "Pakistan's Olympic humiliation in national sport". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Most international hockey goals scored by an individual". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  9. ^ Sen, Debayan (30 January 2019). "What's killing Pakistan hockey?". ESPN.com. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  10. ^ Yaqoob, Mohammad (21 August 2023). "Major changes in hockey team management ahead of Asiad". Dawn. Retrieved 23 August 2023.