The PFF National Challenge Cup is an annual semi-professional knockout football competition in men's domestic Pakistani football within the

Pakistan football league system The Pakistan football league system consists of interconnected leagues for football clubs in Pakistan. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues. The system See also * Football in Pakistan Association ...

. It is organized by and named after the

Pakistan Football Federation Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in Pakistan. Founded in 1947, its headquarters are at the FIFA Football House in Lahore, Punjab near Punjab Stadium. The federation manages the men's and women's ...

Khan Research Laboratories The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...

have won the most titles (six). WAPDA are the current champions, winning the 2020 edition courtesy of a 1-0 win against SSGC F.C. in the final.

Background

Although it is an annual competition, it has not been held on a few occasions. The competition was not held from (1980–83, 1986, 1988–89, 1995, 1997, 2004, 2006–07, 2017, 2021–22). The tournament has seen various name changes throughout its establishment.

Names

Finals

;Wins by club

Results by team

Since its establishment, the National Challenge Cup has been won by 15 different teams. Teams shown in ''italics'' are no longer in existence.

Giant killings

The possibility of unlikely victories in the earlier rounds of the competition, where lower ranked teams beat higher placed opposition in what is known as a "giant killing", is much anticipated by the public. Such upsets are considered an integral part of the tradition and prestige of the competition, and the attention gained by giant-killing teams can be as great as that for winners of the cup. In 2009, non-league side Sindh Government Press defeated top-flight

National Bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...

3–2 in group stages. In 2011, second-division club Ashraf Sugar Mills defeated

Pakistan Premier League The Pakistan Premier League (PPL; ur, پاکستان پریمیئر لیگ) is a Pakistani professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Pakistan football league system, it is the country's primary football compe ...

winners WAPDA F.C. 1–0, and they repeated the feat again in the group stages, defeating National Bank from Pakistan Premier League 2–0, as they finished top of the group. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, second-division side Pakistan Public Work Department defeated

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

2–0 in group stages. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, Pak Afghan Clearing defeated league winners and defending champions

2–1.

Records and statistics

Final

Team

*Most wins: 6,

( 2009, 2010, 2011,

, 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

) *Most consecutive wins: 4,

( 2009, 2010, 2011,

) *Most consecutive/uninterrupted years as National Football Challenge Cup Champions: 6, Sindh Government Press (1979–1984) *Most Final appearances without ever winning: 4, K-Electric ( 2011,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

) *Most Final appearances without ever losing: 4,

( 2009, 2010, 2011,

) *Most Final appearances without losing (streak): 4,

( 2009, 2010, 2011,

) * Longest gap between wins: 20 years,

(1993–2013) *Biggest win: 4 goals,

4–0 Pakistan Navy ( 2010) *Most goals in a final: 4, joint record: **Allied Bank 3–1 Pakistan Army ( 1996) ** Pakistan Navy 3–1

( 2008) **

4–0 Pakistan Navy ( 2010) **

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

3–1 K-Electric (

) *Most defeats: 4, joint record: ** K-Electric ( 2011,

) ** WAPDA F.C. (1984, 2002, 2005,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

)

Individual

*Most wins by manager: 4, Tariq Lutfi (

) ( 2011,

, 2015,

), *Most goals (one final): 2, joint record: **Sajjad Ahmed ( Pakistan Navy) ( 2008) **Izharullah Khan (

) ( 2015) *Most finals scored in: 2, joint record: ** Haroon Yousaf (Allied Bank) (1 each in 1996 & 1998) **Muhammad Mujahid (

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

) (1 each in

) *Most goals scored: 23, Muhammad Rasool

All rounds

*Biggest win: City Football Club 2–18 Wohaib (2005) *Biggest away win: City Football Club 2–18 Wohaib (2005) *Most clubs competing for trophy in a season: 28 (

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

) *Longest penalty shootout: 5 penalties each, Allied Bank ''v.''

(1999; Allied Bank won 5–4) *Most rounds played in a season: 3, for: **Bhatti United (

: Qualifying Round – Knockout stages, 1st–3rd Rounds) ** Karachi United (

: Qualifying Round – Knockout stages, 1st–3rd Rounds) ** Sui Southern Gas (

: Qualifying Round – Knockout stages, 1st–3rd Rounds) *Most games played in a season: 7, Karachi United (

: three matches Qualifying Group stages, three Proper Group stages, one Quarter-finals) *Fastest goal: 52 seconds, Tariq Badal (for Gwadar Port Authority ''v.'' K-Electric, Group Stages, 13 March 2012) *Most consecutive games without defeat: 25,

( Group Stages, 2010 through Group stage, 2013. Won three National Football Challenge Cup.) *Most consecutive games without defeat: 25,

( Group Stages, 2010 through Group stage, 2013. Won three National Football Challenge Cup.) *Fastest hat-trick: 5 minutes 51 sec, Umair Ali (for Higher Education Commission ''v.'' DFA Bahawalpur, Group Stages, 19 May 2013) *Most goals by a player in a single National Challenge Cup season: 10, Muhammad Rasool (for K-Electric,

. *Most goals by a player in a single National Challenge Cup game: 6, joint-record: ** Kaleemullah Khan (for

in 8–0 defeat of Ashraf Sugar Mills, Group Stages, 16 May 2013) **Umair Ali (for Higher Education Commission ''v.'' DFA Bahawalpur, Group Stages, 19 May 2013) **Muhammad Waheed (for Civil Aviation Authority ''v.'' Pakistan Railways, Group stage, 22 July 2019)

References

{{National football Cups (AFC region) Football competitions in Pakistan National association football cups