Pakistan football - Is it a national shame they have never played in a World Cup?

[Hiptullha]

We qualified for the 1950 FIFA world cup

Teams refusing to participate[edit]
A number of teams refused to participate in the qualifying tournament, including most nations behind the Iron Curtain, such as the Soviet Union, 1938 finalists Hungary and 1934 finalists Czechoslovakia.[3]

Withdrawals during qualification[edit]
Argentina, Ecuador and Peru in South America withdrew after the qualifying draw (in Argentina's case because of a dispute with the Brazilian Football Confederation). This meant that Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay qualified from South America by default.[3] In Asia, the Philippines,Indonesia and Burma all withdrew, leaving India to qualify by default. In Europe, Austria withdrew, claiming its team was too inexperienced.[3]Belgium also withdrew from the qualification tournament.[3] These withdrawals meant that Switzerland and Turkey qualified without having to play their final round of matches.

Withdrawals after qualification[edit]
Before the qualification competition, George Graham, chairman of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), had said that Scotland would only travel to Brazil as winners of the Home Championship.[4] (England, by contrast, had committed to attending, even if they finished in second place).[4] After Scotland ended up in second place behind England, the Scottish captain George Young, encouraged by England captain Billy Wright, pleaded with the SFA to change its mind and accept the place in Brazil; however, Graham refused to change his position and so Scotland withdrew from the tournament.[4]

Turkey also withdrew, citing financial problems and the cost of travelling to South America.[5] FIFA invited Portugal and France, who had both been eliminated in qualifying, to fill the gaps left by Scotland and Turkey. Portugal refused, but France initially accepted, and was entered into the draw.[6]

Draw and subsequent withdrawals[edit]
The draw, held in Rio on 22 May 1950, allocated the fifteen remaining teams into four groups:[7][8]

• Group 1: Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland and Yugoslavia
• Group 2: England, Chile, Spain and the United States.
• Group 3: Italy, India, Paraguay and Sweden
• Group 4: Uruguay, Bolivia and France

After the draw, the Indian football association AIFF decided against going to the World Cup, citing travel costs (although FIFA had agreed to bear a major part of the travel expenses),[9] lack of practice time, team selection issues and valuing the Olympics over the FIFA World Cup.[9]

Although FIFA had imposed a rule banning barefoot play following the 1948 Olympics[10][11] where India had played barefoot, the Indian captain at the time, Sailen Manna, claimed that this was not part of the AIFF's decision.[9]

France also withdrew, citing the amount of travel that would be required in Group 4. There was not enough time to invite further replacement teams or to reorganise the groups, so the tournament featured only thirteen teams, with just two nations in Group 4.

Of the thirteen teams that competed, only one, England, was making its debut. Several of the Latin American teams were competing for the first time since the inaugural 1930 tournament—this included undefeated Uruguay, as well as Mexico, Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia. Yugoslavia was also making its first appearance since 1930. This would be the United States' last appearance at the World Cup finals until 1990, and Bolivia's last until 1994.

 

[marbella]

South asians are not physically fit enough/genetic defect to play most competitive sports

okay they may not be good at football, but they are good in other fields. pls google shahid khan or lashmi mittal

 

[nvKyleBrown]

Cricket is below football. Lets be clear about that.

Therefore benchmark is football, not cricket.

USA is a regular fixture in football world cups.

I don't think I'd rate sports as being "above" or "below" one another, generally. You could say one is more demanding of a particular kind of fitness, body type, or skill, but overall, sport doesn't lend itself to inter-sport comparisons. How would you compare wrestling and gymnastics?

As far as ranking countries, Olympic A-level qualifiers would be my favorite measure. It shows off the breadth and depth of a country's sporting prowess. Medals per capita limits large countries, as there is a limited number of medals you can win no matter how dominant you are. But number of qualifiers is not limited to 3 per country. (You can have only 2 or 3 entrants, but you can qualify many and choose from amongst your qualifiers who gets to go).

FWIW, the US is dominant in several sports that are not Olympic sports at all - baseball, softball, and American football come quickly to mind. We'd also probably be dominant in lacrosse as well. So, Pakistan being good at a non-Olympic sport has to be factored into overall sporting culture as a plus. It wouldn't show up on Olympic measures, but that isn't the only way to measure, and the Olympics under-estimates some countries and over-estimates some others. There isn't a perfect measure. :-( or maybe that's a good thing, reduces nationalism around sport a bit.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

The talent is always there. But the selection have become biased. Sports officials select persons based on bribe and sponsors. A shame. Same in Pakistan too. The only negative is, this has filtered into Pakistani cricket too

 

[Arya Desa]

Desis are low muscle-tone, low energy people.

 

[WaLeEdK2]

Desis are low muscle-tone, low energy people.

That's just a stereotype. I've had many desi friends play football, basketball etc.

 

[nvKyleBrown]

Desis are low muscle-tone, low energy people.

One of our Olympic gymnasts was ethnically/genetically south asian: Raj Bhavsar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think it goes more to the culture you grow up in. There are sports for every body type. For this thread - short players have done very well in soccer - lower center of gravity leads to more agility on the field.

In the US, south asians have a bit of a reputation for avoiding sports (fair or unfair, I couldn't say). You gotta play to win, you gotta let your kids play if you want them to have a chance to love the sport and be great at it.

Further, large countries will produce a lot of people of every body type. China, for all it's reputation for short people, produces a competitive basketball team, and at least one really good player. Its a matter of cultivating what you have.

 

[Arya Desa]

One of our Olympic gymnasts was ethnically/genetically south asian: Raj Bhavsar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think it goes more to the culture you grow up in. There are sports for every body type. For this thread - short players have done very well in soccer - lower center of gravity leads to more agility on the field.

In the US, south asians have a bit of a reputation for avoiding sports (fair or unfair, I couldn't say). You gotta play to win, you gotta let your kids play if you want them to have a chance to love the sport and be great at it.

Further, large countries will produce a lot of people of every body type. China, for all it's reputation for short people, produces a competitive basketball team, and at least one really good player. Its a matter of cultivating what you have.

This isn't fair. When you attach American to a person it becomes the best version

Indian vs Indian-Americans
Cuban vs Cuban-Americans
Canadian vs Canadian-Americans
Brits vs British-American
Italian vs Italian-Americans
Asian vs Asian-American


Indians really aren't able to do sports. I mean badminton was a British adaptation of an Indian sport, so was chess. You can see through history we haven't been a physical lot.

 

[Al-Taïr]

World cup is a step too far for us right now... Lets ask ourselves... Why didnt we play a single international match last year

 

[Karachiite]

Pakistanis just aren't athletic enough to excel at physically demanding sports such as football/soccer. In addition, Pakistan does not possess world class facilities for development. Lastly, there is no football culture in Pakistan as cricket is the main sport there.

 

[kamrananvaar]

Football is a multi-billion dollar industry.

Why is Pakistan unable to produce a good football team with enough quality to qualify for a world cup?

Go have a look at football stadium at backside of civil hispital , karachi . The coach is doing his best and hats off to the players who put their hard earned money for the passion they love . There is no govt help only lip service as is the case of whole of sind givt . Ppp in particular coz these players come from lyari , ppp 's area. They dont need mega spending , you dont have to go far , if the street children can make it to the world stage why not the football players.
Have you ever wondered why pakistan has lost its place in hockey? I know a bit off topic but it will help you understand the football dilema . The golden years of hockey had 5-6 players from one small city gojra near toba tek singh distt faisalabad . They were mad about hockey but if you go there now the hockey stadium is run over by jahaz- junkies and you only find needles and no grass. Which sane parent is gonna allow their children to play hockey in that stadium . People are still mad about hockey but due to neglect of admin no nurseries of kids will play hockey.
On a similiar note desi kushti - wrestling is a dying art . My cousin sponsors afew tournaments in the village and also sponsors a few kids to train at a okhara at his dera. He is not a jageerdar. Just a farmer with about 8 acres .
So if the govt goes to the grass root level and help the players instead of the associations we might see a revivsl of sports.

Football needs men to be at their perfect physical shape. And along with that you need skills and football knowledge, which we lack here at Subcontinent and even China. There is a huge amount of investment needed for coaches training, youth training and infrastructure, something not possible for Pakistan (or even Bangladesh). Natural physical structure is also a disadvantage.

There is no shame of never playing in the FIFA World Cup, it is has more members than nations in the World.

Natural physical structure?? . You do know we have pathaans as well as lyari guys who are excellent boxers.

Pakistanis just aren't athletic enough to excel at physically demanding sports such as football/soccer. In addition, Pakistan does not possess world class facilities for development. Lastly, there is no football culture in Pakistan as cricket is the main sport there.

Being a karachhite you havent been to lyari. Its soccer and boxing all the way

World cup is a step too far for us right now... Lets ask ourselves... Why didnt we play a single international match last year

And your answer is?

Pakistan has a small budget for sports .....a federation like football requires

• 50 Million Dollars (USD) allotment annually in order to show something. I think Pakistan federation was getting few millions from AFC grant which improved results for a while. However Pakistan sports need funds.

In general funding for sports bodies need to be 20 Million USD - 50 Million USD each

Pakistan Hockey : 50 Million / Year
Pakistan Football : 50 Million / Year
Pakistan Cricket : 20 Million / Year
Pakistan Athletics (Track & Field) : 20 Million / Year
Pakistan Squash : 20Million / Year
Pakistan Tennis : 20 Million / Year
Pakistan Boxing : 20 Million / Year
Pakistan Weight Lifting : 20 Million / Year
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220 Million USD for sports grant
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Sports builds role models and leaders for country , that is the only way to fight extremism

I am against federations . More corruption. Lets compare to deploy cricket at grass root level lets say schools you need atleast 2 bats , cricket balls lets say 1 ball might last a week if we are optimistic wickets and safety gear for both batsman as well as wicket keeper whereas in football just one football and 22 kids will play . You do the maths .

Football:

Football , is a game that unlike cricket , requires elite fitness level. A fat guy in cricket can huff and puff and make 50 runs. Football , is a game that combines

a) Athletic Burst movement - Sprints
b) Elements of Endurance , and long distance running
c) Great coordination of feet and mind.

There is a certain Level , which can be achieved , playing "street football". The level of street football itself depends on how many high quality players are playing sport in streets, 1 generation there are abundance of footballers then quality produced would be high otherwise , low quality players are produced.

Modern Football:
Modern football player

• Trains and attains the basics of sport in Academies
• They play each week in schools , college , universities
• They progress to be enrolled in scholarships in schools and Pro clubs by the time the players are 14-15 year old.

Role of Pro clubs:

• Pro Clubs offer salaries to players 2-5 Million Dollar range , so they player 100 % is dedicated to
  2 training sessions per day. 5 days out of 7 days a week.

• Pro clubs play other pro clubs , and thru this competitive battle the level of player rises.

Domestic League:

• 2-3 Tear , League system is needed for 14 teams - 16 teams , so that competitive environment
  exist and players , play at high level. Coaches need to be present of high quality who can train
  players , however most training is already done before player turns 18 year old.
• The league needs to focus on marketing , bringing crowds to stadium and distributing money from Asian federation or government to Clubs.

Pakistan at present:

• Does not have high quality Artificial grass fields or Lush grass surface available when players are young
• Does not have high level players , who have advance skills which are passed down to youth
• The technique seen in street soccer in Pakistan is not high its mostly kick and runvs what we see in Africa where the skill level is quite high even when players are poor brazil also have poor kids but the level of football is very high at street level so any new kid is automatically trained at high level when he is playing street football.
  
• The training methods are poor , coaching is poor so end product is poor and undeveloped.
• League system has low financial input from investors and companies sponsors.

Pakistan Latest Result between Now 2015 and 2008, may be 29 odd international games

Pakistan vs Yamen 0-0 Draw
Pakistan vs Yamen 0-3 Loss
Pakistan vs Afghanistan 2-1 Win
Pakistan vs Labnoon 1-3 Loss
Pakistan vs Palestine 0-2 Loss
Pakistan vs Tajakistan 0-1 Loss
Pakistsn vs Krygstan 0-1 Loss
Pakistan vs Macau 2-0 Win
Pakistan vs Singapore 0-4 Loss
Pakistan vs Bangladesh 0-3 Loss
Pakistan vs Bangladesh 0-0 Draw
Pakistan vs Palestine 2-2 Draw
Pakistan vs Turkamanistan 0-3 Loss
Pakistan vs India 1-3 Loss
Pakistan vs Chinese Tipe 2-0 Win
Pakistan vs Bangladesh 0 - 0 Draw
Pakistan vs Maldives 0-0 Draw
Pakistan vs Nepal 1-1 Draw
Pakistan vs Chinese Tipe 1- 1 Draw
Pakistan vs Brunai 6-0 Win
Pakistan vs Srilanka 2-2 Draw
Pakistan vs Srilanka 1- 0 Loss
Pakistan vs Bangladesh 0-0 Draw
Pakistan vs Bhutan 7-0 Win
Pakistan vs Nepal 1-2 Loss
Pakistan vs Nepal 2-0 Win
Pakistan vs Chinese tipe 2-1 Win
Pakistan vs Guam 9-2 Win
Pakistan vs Maldives 0-3 Loss
Pakistan vs India 1-2 Loss
Pakistan vs Malasia 1-4 Loss

• Pakistan's Best moment came at Olympic qualifying rounds 2008 where they once beat Singapore 3-2 (U23)

• 2-2 Draw in Asian Cup qualifiers vs UAE
• 2-2 Draw vs Palestine
• 3-2 Loss to Japan (Ellite Rank Team in Asia)
  

What hold back Pakistani Team:

a) Lack of financially good professional salaries in clubs
b) Lack of coaching (high end coaching) between ages of 8-15 years old
c) Lack of friendlies for international team
d) Lack of Grounds (Artificial grass to develop ground passing)
e) Influx of international caliber coaches coming to train in Pakistan
f) Lack of nutrition and fitness standards in league


Considering PAKISTAN is next to Iran a Football powerhouse, its strange that yearly tours are not arranged to iran to play regular trianing games against Iranian clubs for practice , cost to travel to iran is marginal


Pakistan U16 Winning Regional SAFF tournament beating India 2-1

Zeshan Pakisani footballer of UK background lifting cup in malasia

Talent to hai ...... mager

• Football Federation ko 50 Million dollar ka budget bhi to mile

Really well writen but I disagree with the budget . First introduce at schools and afterwards look at proffessional football.
Look at the demographic of pakistan , most of us dont get enough excercise . Football givrs you one hell of an excercise in a short span . The fastest i lost weight was playing soccer at my college . Just one ball and players would just join you. Mind you i was pathetic but didnt give up the ball and sometimes got a kick in , but did get the best excercise .

 

[Karachiite]

Being a karachhite you havent been to lyari. Its soccer and boxing all the way

The sheedis in Lyari make up a small percentage of Karachi, let alone Pakistan. The sheedis of Lyaris and refugees/illegals from Afghanistan seem to be the only ones who have the ability to excel at this sport.

 

[Al-Taïr]

And your answer is?


.

My suggestion would be that we(govt/management) arrange atleast 2x3-5 matches series a year. . And teams like afghanistan,nipal,sirilanka,india,palestine, are in our league so it , it can be a good oppertunity for our team to move up the international ranking. . And to motivate the young that , they can have a future in football..

And your answer is?


.

My suggestion would be that we(govt/management) arrange atleast 2x3-5 matches series a year. . And teams like afghanistan,nipal,sirilanka,india,palestine, are in our league so it , it can be a good oppertunity for our team to move up the international ranking. . And to motivate the young that , they can have a future in football..

 

[zohaib44]

lack of facilities and coverage of football. how many Pakistani channels show European leagues, only Ptv sports show few English premier league matches. if there is enough coverage then surely the sport will grow

 

[Oracle 33]

There are good South Asian decent players in Europe but in the region we are a embarrassment!

Even if you provided 100 football pitches the youngsters will start playing cricket on them, it's the mindset that need's changing