The India–Pakistan field hockey rivalry is among the most intense sporting rivalries in Asia and among the fiercest in field hockey. India and Pakistan have played each other numerous times in international senior hockey since their first meeting in 1956. They participate in various tournaments, namely the Summer Olympic Games, Hockey World Cup, FIH Pro League, Commonwealth Games, Asia Cup, Men's Asian Champions Trophy, Asian Games, South Asian Games and Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
India and Pakistan have met in eight Asian Games finals, including each of the first six. Pakistan has won six of those finals, while India has won two. The two teams also played each other in three successive Olympic hockey finals from 1956 to 1964, with India winning the 1956 and 1964 finals and Pakistan winning the 1960 final. They have also faced each other in three Asia Cup finals, with Pakistan winning two of them. The only Hockey World Cup final between India and Pakistan was played in 1975 and it ended in a 2–1 win for India.
Across all head-to-head meetings, Pakistan has won 82 games, while India has won 71. In Olympic field hockey, India has won eight gold medals compared with Pakistan's three. Pakistan has also won four Hockey World Cup titles, while India has won one. Since 2016, India has been unbeaten against Pakistan.
Among the top three goal-scorers in this bilateral rivalry, Sohail Abbas of Pakistan leads by a significant margin, scoring 54 goals. He is followed by India's Harmanpreet Singh (23 goals), Pakistan's Hassan Sardar (22 goals) and India's Sandeep Singh (21 goals).
Statistics By Year Decade wise record of India vs Pakistan field hockey:
Year Matches Results Goals India Pakistan Draw India Pakistan1950s2101101960s6231351970s1339110271980s46142210791111990s26913452622000s47142761081282010s351988102622020s109014418Total185718232399413
By Tournament The record between India and Pakistan by tournament is:
Tournament Matches Results Goals India Pakistan Draw India Pakistan Test series52162511104124 Summer Olympics724138 World Cup64201510 FIH Pro League2200114 Champions Trophy1971204854 Asian Games176833134 Asia Cup93511820 Asian Champions Trophy128223423 Commonwealth Games31111010 FIH Hockey World League3201154 Afro-Asian Games220073 Other Matches (Continent wise) Africa210152 Americas201158 Asia34141467969 Europe101811633 Oceania5203129Total185718232399413
Major tournaments won indicates that the team has more titles in that competition than its rival. Tournament India PakistanSummer Olympics8 (1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1980)3 (1960, 1968, 1984)World Cup1 (1975)4 (1971, 1978, 1982, 1994)Champions Trophy—3 (1978, 1980, 1994)Hockey Series1 (2018–19)—Champions Challenge1 (2001)—Asian Games5 (1966, 1998, 2014, 2022, 2026)8 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 2010)Asia Cup4 (2003, 2007, 2017, 2025)3 (1982, 1985, 1989)Asian Champions Trophy5 (2011, 2016, 2018, 2023, 2024)3 (2012, 2013, 2018)Afro-Asian Games1 (2003)—South Asian Games1 (1995)3 (2006, 2010, 2016)Sultan Azlan Shah Cup5 (1985, 1991, 1995, 2009, 2010)3 (1999, 2000, 2003)Total3230
Records
Top goal-scorers Pakistan Rank Player Goals Years1 Sohail Abbas541998–20122 Hassan Sardar221979–19873 Rehan Butt192002–20124 Hanif Khan131976–1985 Kaleemullah131979–1986 Source:
India Rank Player Goals Years1 Harmanpreet Singh232015–2 Sandeep Singh212004–20123 Gagan Ajit Singh181997–20074 Mohinder Pal Singh151976–1988 Baljit Singh Dhillon151993–20046 Dhanraj Pillay111989–2004 Source:
Test series
India and Pakistan have played eight Test series, all between 1978 and 2006. Pakistan has won six series, while India has won one, and one series ended in a draw. Across all series, 52 matches have been played, with Pakistan winning 25, India winning 16, and 11 matches ending in a draw. The goals aggregate is 124–104 in Pakistan's favour. Reports of Test series being revived emerged in 2013 and 2017, but have not materialized since then.
+ Overall results:YearMatchesWinnerResults Captain Coach Captain Coach 1978 4 Pakistan win 3–1 Islahuddin Siddique Sayad A. Hussain Victor Philips Randhir Singh Gentle 1981 4 Pakistan win 2–1 Akhtar Rasool Khwaja Zakauddin Surjit Singh Randhawa Harmik Singh 1986 7 India win 3–2 Hassan Sardar Anwar Ahmad Khan Mohammed Shahid M. P. Ganesh 1988 6Draw 2–2 Nasir Ali Manzoor-ul Hassan M. M. Somaya M. P. Ganesh 1998 8 Pakistan win 4–3 Tahir Zaman Islahuddin Siddique Dhanraj Pillay Vasudevan Baskaran 1999 9 Pakistan win 5–3 Atif Bashir Shehnaz Sheikh Anil Aldrin Vasudevan Baskaran 2004 8 Pakistan win 4–2 Waseem Ahmed Roelant Oltmans Dilip Tirkey Gerhard Rach 2006 6 Pakistan win 3–1 Muhammad Saqlain Asif Bajwa Ignace Tirkey Rajinder Singh Jr.
Results in major tournaments
The following table shows vs in major tournaments :
Note: Tournaments highlighted in red are defunct and are no longer held.
Tournament Year Venue Winning team, resultOlympic Games 1956 Melbourne, 1–0 1960 Rome, 1–0 1964 Tokyo, 1–0 1972 Munich, 2–0 1988 Seoul, 2–1 1996 AtlantaDraw, 0–0 2004 Athens, 3–0Olympic Qualifier2004 Madrid, 5–3, 4–2World Cup 1971 Barcelona, 2–1 1973 Amsterdam, 1–0 1975 Kuala Lumpur, 2–1 1986 London, 3–2 2010 New Delhi, 4–1 2026 Amstelveen, 5–3FIH Pro League2025–26 London, 4–3, 7–1Asian Games 1958 TokyoDraw, 0–0 1962 Jakarta, 2–0 1966 Bangkok, 1–0 1970 Bangkok, 1–01974 TehranDraw, 1–1, 2–0 1978 Bangkok, 1–0 1982 New Delhi, 7–1 1986 Seoul, 3–1 1990 Beijing, 3–2 2002 Busan, 4–3 2010 Guangzhou, 3–2 2014 Incheon, 2–1Draw, 1–1 (4–2 p.s.o ) 2018 Jakarta, 2–1 2022 Hangzhou, 10–2 2026 Aichi-Nagoya, 4–3Asia Cup 1982 Karachi, 4–0 1985 Dhaka, 3–2 1989 New Delhi, 2–02003 Kuala Lumpur, 4–2, 4–2 2009 Kuantan, 3–2 2017 Dhaka, 3–1, 4–0 2022 JakartaDraw, 1–1 Asian Champions Trophy 2011 OrdosDraw, 2–2Draw, 0–0 (4–2 p.s.o ) 2012 Doha, 2–1, 5–4 2013 Kakamigahara, 5–42016 Kuantan, 3–2, 3–2 2018 Muscat, 3–1 2021 Dhaka, 3–1, 4–3 2023 Chennai, 4–0 2024 Hulunbuir, 2–1Commonwealth Games 2006 Melbourne, 4–1 2010 New Delhi, 7–4 2018 Gold CoastDraw, 2–2South Asian Games 1995 Madras, 5–22006 Colombo, 2–0, 3–22010 Dhaka, 5–1Draw, 1–1 (4–3 p.s.o )2016 Guwahati, 2–1, 1–0Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 1983 Kuala LumpurDraw, 1–1 1985 Ipoh, 1–0 1991 Ipoh, 1–0 2000 Kuala Lumpur, 2–1 2001 Kuala Lumpur, 4–3 2004 Kuala Lumpur, 3–2 2005 Ipoh, 3–2 2008 Ipoh, 2–1 2009 Ipoh, 2–1 2010 Ipoh, 4–2 2011 Ipoh, 3–1 2012 Ipoh, 2–1 2013 Ipoh, 3–1, 4–2 2016 Ipoh, 5–1Champions Trophy 1980 Karachi, 7–1 1982 Amstelveen, 5–4 1983 Karachi, 2–0 1985 Perth, 2–1 1986 Karachi, 3–2 1989 West Berlin, 1–0 1995 Berlin, 2–1 1996 Madras, 3–22002 Cologne, 3–2, 4–32003 Amstelveen, 7–4, 4–32004 Lahore, 2–1, 3–22005 Chennai, 3–2, 4–3 2012 Melbourne, 3–2 2014 Bhubaneswar, 4–3 2018 Breda, 4–0FIH Hockey World League 2014–15 AntwerpDraw, 2–2 2016–17 London, 7–1, 6–1Afro-Asian Games 2003 Hyderabad, 4–2, 3–1Champions Challenge I 2009 Salta, 6–3
Other matches Other matches played between India and Pakistan are:
Tournament Year Venue Results India Pakistan Note Hockey Festival 1966 Hamburg 1 1Draw Pre-Olympic Invitation Tournament 1967 London 0 1 Pakistan win Jinnah Memorial Cup 1976 Lahore 0 5 Pakistan win Pentangular Cup 1980 Kuala Lumpur 1 3 Pakistan winTest Matches1982 Dubai 1 5 Pakistan win 1 3 Pakistan win Esanda Cup 1982 Melbourne 2 1 India win Golden Jubilee Cup 1983 Hong Kong 1 5 Pakistan winTest Matches1985 Kuwait City 1 0 India win 1 0 India win Doha 1 1DrawEmirates Cup1986 Dubai 2 2Draw Kuwait City 3 3Draw 4 Nations Cups 1986 Leningrad 0 2 Pakistan winMarshall Invitation Cup1988 Nairobi 3 0 India win 1 1 Draw Indira Gandhi Gold Cup 1989 Lucknow 0 3 Pakistan win Atlanta Challenge Cup 1996 Atlanta 2 2 Draw Prime Ministers Cup 2001 Dhaka 3 3Draw ( India win p.s.o 6–5)4 nations tournament2003 Perth 2 0 India win Sydney 4 4 DrawRaboTrophy2004 Amsterdam 1 6 Pakistan win 3 5 Pakistan win RaboTrophy 2005 Amsterdam 1 3 Pakistan win3 nations tournament2011 Busselton 3 3 Draw Bunbury 1 1 Draw Friendly 2011 India 2 3 Pakistan win Lanco International Super Series 2012 Perth 5 2 India win
Players who have played for both teams Prior to the Partition of India in 1947 India had played field hockey, having first played as an international side in 1926. Following the Partition, Pakistan was created and began playing as an independent nation, making their debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
The following players played for Pakistan after appearing for India. They are: Ali Dara – Represented India at 1936 Olympics; and for Pakistan at 1948 Olympics Peter Paul Fernandes – Represented India at 1936 Olympics; and for Pakistan after 1948 Latif-ur Rehman – Represented India at 1948 Olympics; and for Pakistan at 1952 and 1956 Olympics Akhtar Hussain – Represented India at 1948 Olympics; and for Pakistan at 1956 Olympics
See also India–Malaysia field hockey rivalry Netherlands–Pakistan field hockey record India–Pakistan relations India–Pakistan sports rivalries India–Pakistan cricket rivalry
Notes
References
External links All Other Indo–Pak Matches Z News India beat Pakistan 2–1 India waste 3–0 lead in ill-tempered match vs Pak Field hockey rivalry draws huge crowd