Cap (sport)

In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at the international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football.

The practice was first approved on 10 May 1886 for association football after a proposal made by N. Lane Jackson, founder of the Corinthians:

The act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Although in some sports physical caps may not now always be given (whether at all or for each appearance) the term cap for an international or other appearance has been retained as an indicator of the number of occasions on which a sportsperson has represented a team in a particular sport. Thus, a "cap" is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games for the team is said to have been capped x times or have won x caps.

The practice of awarding a physical cap varies from sport to sport. It may be awarded before a player's debut or, particularly for national teams, a commemorative cap may be awarded after a player reaches the 100th cap.

Association football

In the early days of football, the concept of each team wearing a set of matching shirts had not been universally adopted, so each side would distinguish itself from the other by wearing a specific sort of cap. An early illustration of the first international football match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. When Aston Villa Football Club played their first match in 1874,Aston Villa's first milestone, John Hughes, Sunday Mercury & Sunday News 30 March 1924 they played in royal blue caps and stockings, scarlet and royal blue hooped shirts and white shorts. The club rules stated "No member can take place in a match unless in the above uniform".A Football Jubilee, John Hughes, Sunday Mercury & Sunday News 9 March 1924

Some men's association football teams still award physical caps. Players are awarded one cap for every match they play – unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament, then they are given a single cap for the competition, with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself. For example, when David Beckham made his one-hundredth appearance for England, because a number of his appearances had been at World Cup and European Championship final tournaments for which he could only receive one cap, he received only his 85th physical cap. In Scotland, for many years the practice was to present caps only for appearances in the British Home Championship, meaning that several players never received one (including those in their 1958 FIFA World Cup squad); this anomaly was rectified retrospectively in the 2000s after pressure from players' families.Eddie Turnbull: Having a Ball , Eddie Turnbull, Martin Hannan; Random House, 2012, Shades: The Short Life and Tragic Death of Erich Schaedler , Colin Leslie; Black & White Publishing, 2013,

FIFA recognises certain international games as ones where a player can be awarded a cap – these games are regarded as International "A" games. These are matches in which both nations field their first Representative Team.

Records

The world record holder for the highest number of international caps as of 5 November 2010 is retired American player Kristine Lilly, who has 354 caps. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal holds the most caps among men only; he surpassed Bader Al-Mutawa with his 197th cap on 23 March 2023, before extending his record to 198 caps on 26 March 2023. The first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of England's Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England, 90 of them he obtained whilst he was a captain.

Bold denotes players currently active in international football.

Men

+ Most caps in men's association footballRankCapsPlayerNation 1 234 Cristiano Ronaldo 2003–present 2 207 Lionel Messi 2005–2026 3 205 Luka Modrić 2006–present 4 202 Bader Al-Mutawa 2003–2022 5 195 Soh Chin Ann 1969–19846 193 Hassan Al-Haydos 2008–present Ahmed Kano 2003–2019 8 184 Ahmed Hassan 1995–2012 9 182 Andrés Guardado 2005–2024 10 180 Sergio Ramos 2005–2023

Women

+ Most caps in women's association footballRankCapsPlayerNation 1 354 Kristine Lilly 1987–2010 2 331 Christine Sinclair 2000–2023 3 316 Carli Lloyd 2005–2021 4 311 Christie Pearce 1997–2015 5 276 Mia Hamm 1987–2004 6 274 Julie Foudy 1988–2004 7 255 Abby Wambach 2001–2015 8 248 Sherida Spitse 2006–2025 9 241 Joy Fawcett 1987–2004 10 240 Caroline Seger 2005–2023

Cricket

As in association football, cricket still awards a physical cap. Caps are awarded both at international and domestic level, however the criterion for winning a cap differs between international and domestic cricket.

In international cricket, a player is awarded a cap for every appearance made. It is common for a player to be presented with their cap in a ceremony on the first morning of their maiden Test match, although a physical cap may not be presented for every occasion on which a player represents his country. International caps are numbered according to the number of players who have represented the country before. For example, cap number 50 is awarded to the fiftieth player to represent the country.

In some domestic cricket competitions, caps are also awarded. However, they are not awarded automatically for every appearance made, but instead at the discretion of the administrators of the club for whom the recipient plays, and are a one-off recognition that the recipient is now a regular, established player for the club. The most prevalent example of this system is in English county cricket, in which many First Class counties award a "county cap" to players.

As of April 2021, 70 players have won 100 or more caps in Test cricket.

Records

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

+ Most caps in men's test cricketRankCapsNameCountry 1 200 Sachin Tendulkar India 1989–2013 2 188 James Anderson England 2003–20243 168 Ricky Ponting Australia 1995–2012 Steve Waugh Australia 1985–2004 5 166 Jacques Kallis South Africa ICC World XI 1995–20136 164 Shivnarine Chanderpaul West Indies 1994–2015 Rahul Dravid India ICC World XI 1996–2012 8 163 Joe Root England 2012-present 9 161Alastair Cook England 2006-2018 10 160 Stuart Broad England 2007–2023 Notes

+ Most caps in men's one-day international cricketRankCapsNameCountry 1 463 Sachin Tendulkar India 1989–2012 2 448 Mahela Jayawardene Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI 1998–2015 3 445 Sanath Jayasuriya Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI 1989–2011 4 404 Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI ICC World XI 2000–2015 5 398 Shahid Afridi Pakistan ACC Asia XI ICC World XI 1996–2015 6 378 Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan ACC Asia XI 1991–2007 7 375 Ricky Ponting Australia ICC World XI 1995–2012 8 356 Wasim Akram Pakistan 1984–20039 350 MS Dhoni India ACC Asia XI 2004–2019 Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI ICC World XI 1993–2011

Rugby union

In rugby union, 92 players have reached 100 international caps as of 27 October 2023. Players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are eligible for selection to the British & Irish Lions touring squad. Lions matches are classed as full international tests, and caps are awarded. The Pacific Islanders team, composed of players from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Cook Islands have a similar arrangement, although no players involved have so far reached 100 caps (Fijian Nicky Little is closest with 71 caps).

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

+ Most caps in men's rugby unionRankCapsNameCountry 1 170 Alun Wyn Jones 2006–2023 2 153 Sam Whitelock 2010–2023 3 151 James Slipper 2010–2025 4 148 Richie McCaw 2001-2015 5 144 Beauden Barrett 2012-present 6 142 Sergio Parisse 2002-20197 141Eben Etzebeth 2012-present Brian O'Driscoll 1999-2014 9 139 George Gregan 1994-2007 10 137 Cian Healy 2002–2018

Rugby league The International Rugby League honours players that have made 50 international appearances in their career with a special golden cap. The record for most caps is held by former Australian Kangaroos player and captain Darren Lockyer with 59 matches.

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

+ Most caps in men's rugby leagueRankCapsNameCountry 1 59 Darren Lockyer Australia 1998–2011 2 56 Cameron Smith Australia 2006–2017 3 55 Ruben Wiki New Zealand 1994–2006 4 54 Jim Sullivan Wales Great Britain England 1921–19345 53 James Graham Great Britain England 2006–2019 Adrian Morley Great Britain England 1996–20127 51 Adam Blair New Zealand 2006–2019 Petero Civoniceva Australia Fiji 2001–2014 9 50 Mick Sullivan Great Britain England 1954–1962 10 47 Ryan Hall Great Britain England 2009–2022

Netball

Cap (sport)

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