Sharafat Ali

Sharafat in 1987
Personal information
Date of birth	(1966-06-01) 1 June 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth	Multan, Pakistan
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Pak Fighters
1981	Multan
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1983–1993	WAPDA
International career
1984–1992	Pakistan
Managerial career
2012–2021	WAPDA (assistant)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Pakistan South Asian Games 1989 Islamabad Team competition 1991 Colombo Team competition 1987 Kolkata Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sharafat Ali (born 1 June 1966)^[1] is a Pakistani former footballer who played as a forward. He is credited with scoring Pakistan's first ever goal in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers since their first participation in 1989.^[2] A former captain of the national team,^[3] Ali also won the 1989 and 1991 South Asian Games with Pakistan.^[4][5]

Ali was born on 1 June 1966 in Multan in the Punjab province of Pakistan.^[1][6]

Ali started playing football at the age of 10, and joined Pak Fighters Football Club.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1980s, the National Youth Championship was held regularly in Pakistan. Playing for Multan in the final of the 1981 National Youth Championship, Sharafat scored the only goal in the final against Sargodha.^[7][8][9]

In 1983, Ali joined WAPDA,^[1] winning their first trophy in their first participation in the National Football Championship, scoring in the 5–4 final victory against Habib Bank.^[10] Sharafat was also part of WAPDA during the National Games, winning gold in the 24th edition of the National Games in 1992 and winning silver the following year.

Ali participated in the 1984 Merdeka Tournament, scoring in a 1–2 defeat against Primera B XI of Argentina, and two goals in a 2–0 victory against Algeria U20.^[11][12][13] In the 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Ali scored a hat trick in a 4–1 victory against North Yemen, registering Pakistan's lone win in the competition.^[14]

At the 1988 Summer Olympics qualification in April 1987, he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw against Nepal. In 1987, Ali was appointed as the 36th captain of the Pakistan national team when Quaid-e-Azam International Cup was held in Lahore, previously participating in the series in 1985 in Peshawar and 1986 in Islamabad. His long range goal in the 1987 South Asian Games against Maldives placed Pakistan second in the group stages,^[15] to advance to the third place match against Bangladesh where he again scored the lone goal in the 41st minute to win the bronze medal for Pakistan.^[16]

On 10 February 1989, Ali became the first player to score a goal for Pakistan in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in their first participation in the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification, scoring in the 81st minute in a 1–4 loss against UAE.^[2]

Ali played in the 1989 South Asian Games, scoring a goal in a 2–0 victory against Maldives along with Qazi Ashfaq, as Pakistan passed the group stages and won the title by defeating Bangladesh in the final.^[17]

In the subsequent 1991 South Asian Games in Colombo under the captainship of Ghulam Sarwar, Ali again won the gold with Pakistan, after defeating Maldives in the final by 2–0.^[4] Ali thus became the only Pakistani player to represent the national team in three South Asian Games editions and to have a medal in all three.

Ali was assistant manager of WAPDA from 2012 to 2021.^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Note: Exact figures of Pakistani players before 1989 are not yet known and yet to be researched. Below are goals recorded.

List of international goals scored by Sharafat Ali

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
-	23 August 1984	Perak Stadium, Ipoh, Malaysia	South Korea U20‡	1–2	1–6	1984 Merdeka Tournament	[23]
-	30 August 1984	Perak Stadium, Ipoh, Malaysia	Primera B Metropolitana XI‡	1–1	1–2	1984 Merdeka Tournament	[11]
-	3 September 1984	Perak Stadium, Ipoh, Malaysia	Algeria U20‡	1–0	2–0	1984 Merdeka Tournament	[11]
-				2–0			[11]
1	11 October 1984	Kolkata, India	North Yemen		4–1	1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification	[14]
2							[14]
3							[14]
4	25 April 1987	Kathmandu, Nepal	Nepal		2–2	1988 Summer Olympics qualification	[24]
5							[24]
6	22 November 1987	Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, India	Maldives	1–0	1–0	1987 South Asian Games	[15]
7	25 November 1987	Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, India	Bangladesh	1–0	1–0	1987 South Asian Games	[16]
8	10 February 1989	Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad, Pakistan	United Arab Emirates	1–4	1–4	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification	[2]
9	24 October 1989	Jinnah Sports Stadium, Islamabad, Pakistan	Maldives	1–0	2–0	1989 South Asian Games	[17]
10	27 September 1990	Xiannongtan Stadium, Beijing, China	Singapore	1–3	1–6	1990 Asian Games	[25]

WAPDA

• National Football Championship: 1983(1), 1991

• South Asian Games: 1989, 1991

• List of Pakistan national football team captains
• List of Pakistan national football team hat-tricks

• Sharafat Ali at National-Football-Teams.com
• Sharafat Ali at Global Sports Archive
• 11vs11 Profile – Sharafat Ali
• 70 Years of Pakistani Football - Sharafat Ali