Field hockey in Pakistan

The game of field hockey was originally brought to areas now Pakistan during the British Raj, and like cricket, it became a popular sport among the local population. The Pakistan Hockey Federation came into being in 1948,^[1] following the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Prior to this, players from what is now Pakistan had competed internationally alongside players from what is now India. In the beginning, the federation's membership included the provincial hockey federations of West Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bahawalpur, East Bengal, and the Pakistani Armed Forces Sports Board.

Pakistan played their first international game in London when they defeated Belgium 2-1 at the 14th Olympic Games on 2 August 1948.^[2] The first president of PHF was Ghazanfar Ali Khan, with Baseer Ali Sheikh as the Honorary Secretary.^[3]The Pakistan national side soon established a strong reputation in international competition, helping to maintain interest in the game in Pakistan which assisted the growth of the federation. However, no full-time central office or secretariat, as such, was established until the 1960s. The office of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, located at the National Hockey Stadium was developed into a secretariat in 1971. It was during the second term as president of Air Marshal (Retd) Nur Khan from 1978 that Pakistani hockey entered a golden age. National senior, national Junior and women hockey teams were all competing internationally. On the personal initiative of Air Marshal (Retd) Nur Khan, the FIH introduced the World Cup and the Champions Trophy, which rated among field hockey's major international tournaments alongside the Olympics.^[2]

However, the 1976 Olympics in Montreal had seen the introduction of artificial turf to international hockey competitions. Pakistan was unable to build many artificial turf pitches compared to the European sides, and thus the strength of the national side began declining slowly.^[2][4]

The National Hockey Championship has served as the premier domestic cup competition of Pakistan since 1948.

The concept of a franchise-based hockey league in Pakistan was first proposed during the tenure of Pakistan Hockey Federation president Tariq Kirmani in 2005, although it did not develop into a sustained competition.^[5][6][7][8] In February 2016, the Pakistan Hockey Federation initiated preparations for the Pakistan Hockey Super League.^[9][10] The league was postponed after the government of Punjab refused to give an NOC to host the event in 2016. In December 2017, it was announced that the PHSL was given an NOC. The inaugural season was slated to begin in April 2018, but was postponed to July 2018 due to the national team's participation in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and the forthcoming month of Ramadan.^[11] It was further pushed back to 12 to 19 January 2019.^[12] However, due to a lack of funds, the tournament was postponed to 15 to 25 March 2019.^[13][14] On 11 January 2022, the Pakistan Hockey Federation announced that the inaugural edition of the PHSL would take place in 2022.^[15] However the league ultimately failed to launch.^[8]

In 2026, the Pakistan Hockey Federation announced plans to launch a separate PTCL-sponsored National Hockey League as part of wider reforms.^{[16][17][18][19][20]}

• 1960 Summer Olympics, Rome
• 1968 Summer Olympics, Mexico
• 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles

• 1971 Hockey World Cup, Spain
• 1978 Hockey World Cup, Argentina
• 1982 Hockey World Cup, India
• 1994 Hockey World Cup, Australia

• 1978 Hockey Champions Trophy, Pakistan
• 1980 Hockey Champions Trophy, Pakistan
• 1994 Hockey Champions Trophy, Pakistan^[21]

• Pakistan men's national field hockey team
• Pakistan women's national field hockey team

FIH World Rankings as of 9 March 2026.^[22]

Rank	Change	Team	Points
10	1	France	2385.01
11	1	New Zealand	2353.2
12	2	Pakistan	2315.32
13	1	South Africa	2227.42
14	4	Japan	2149.75

FIH Women's World Rankings as of 10 March 2026.^[23]

Rank	Change	Team	Points
54	10	Chinese Taipei	977.4
55	10	Uzbekistan	976.44
56	7	Pakistan	972
57	9	Trinidad and Tobago	958.44
58	6	Slovenia	944