Cap (sport)

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In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at 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. 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. The practice was first approved on 10 May 1886 for association football after a proposal made by N. Lane Jackson, founder of the Corinthians:

That all players taking part for England in future international matches be presented with a white silk cap with red rose embroidered on the front. These to be termed International Caps.^[1][2]

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.^[3][4]

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.^[5][6] 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.^[7][8][9]

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.^[10]

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. In men's association football, the record belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal; 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 As of 21 November 2024[11][failed verification] Most caps in men's association football Rank Caps Name Country Career 1 217 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal 2003–present 2 196 Bader Al-Mutawa  Kuwait 2003–2022 3 195 Soh Chin Ann  Malaysia 1969–1984 4 187 Lionel Messi  Argentina 2005-present 5 184 Ahmed Hassan  Egypt 1995–2012 6 183 Hassan Al-Haydos  Qatar 2008–2024 Ahmed Mubarak  Oman 2003–2019 8 180 Luka Modric  Croatia 2006–present Sergio Ramos[12]  Spain 2005–2023 10 179 Andrés Guardado  Mexico 2005–2024

Women As of 10 August 2024 Most caps in women's association football Rank Caps Name Country Career 1 354 Kristine Lilly  United States 1987–2010 2 331 Christine Sinclair  Canada 2000–2023 3 316 Carli Lloyd  United States 2005–2021 4 311 Christie Pearce  United States 1997–2015 5 276 Mia Hamm  United States 1987–2004 6 274 Julie Foudy  United States 1988–2004 7 255 Abby Wambach  United States 2001–2015 8 241 Joy Fawcett  United States 1987–2004 9 240 Caroline Seger  Sweden 2005–2023 10 235 Sherida Spitse  Netherlands 2006–2024

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.^[1]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

As of 9 April 2022[13] Most caps in men's test cricket Rank Caps Name Country Career 1 200 Sachin Tendulkar India 1989–2013 2 188 James Anderson England 2003–2024 3 168 Ricky Ponting Australia 1995–2012 Steve Waugh Australia 1985–2004 5 166 Jacques Kallis South Africa ICC World XI 1995–2013 6 164 Shivnarine Chanderpaul West Indies 1994–2015 Rahul Dravid India ICC World XI 1996–2012 8 161 Alastair Cook England 2006–2018 9 156 Allan Border Australia 1978–1994 10 160 Stuart Broad England 2007–2023 Notes ^ For South Africa, current cap numbers start from their readmission to Test cricket.

As of 9 April 2022[14] Most caps in men's one-day international cricket Rank Caps Name Country Career 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 1984–2003 9 350 MS Dhoni India ACC Asia XI 2004–2019 Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka ACC Asia XI ICC World XI 1993–2011

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.

As of 28 September 2024^[15]

Most caps in men's rugby union

Rank	Caps	Name	Country	Career
1	171	Alun Wyn Jones	Wales  British & Irish Lions	2006–2023
2	153	Sam Whitelock	New Zealand	2010–2023
3	148	Richie McCaw	New Zealand	2001–2015
4	142	Sergio Parisse	Italy	2002–2019
5	141	Brian O'Driscoll	Ireland  British & Irish Lions	1999–2014
6	139	James Slipper	Australia	2010–
7	139	George Gregan	Australia	1994–2007
8	134	Gethin Jenkins	Wales  British & Irish Lions	2002–2018
9	132	Keven Mealamu	New Zealand	2002–2015
10	131	Beauden Barrett	New Zealand	2012–
		Cian Healy	Ireland	2009–

The International Rugby League honours players that have made 50 international appearances in their career with a special golden cap.^[16] 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.

As of 8 June 2020

Most caps in men's rugby league

Rank	Caps	Name	Country	Career
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	1921–1934
5	53	James Graham	Great Britain England	2006–2019
		Adrian Morley	Great Britain England	1996–2012
7	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
11	46	Puig Aubert	France	1946–1956
		Gary Freeman	New Zealand	1986–1996
		Stacey Jones	New Zealand	1995–2006
		Mal Meninga	Australia	1982–1994

Physical caps are not distributed by the International Netball Federation but the term is still widely used to signify appearances. Irene van Dyk has won the most international caps having represented two nations after her switch to the Silver Ferns, a move that was allowed as the INF rules only prohibited players from representing two nations in one calendar year. Mary Waya is the only other woman to have earned over 200 caps in her thirty-year career, with exact numbers being difficult to confirm.^[17]

Players still active at Test level are in bold type.

As of 7 July 2020

Most caps in women's international netball

Rank	Caps	Name	Country	Career
1	217	Irene van Dyk	South Africa (72) New Zealand (145)	1994–2014
2	205	Mary Waya	Malawi	1984–2014
3	176	Jade Clarke	England	2002–
4	159	Nadine Bryan	Jamaica	1997–
5	151	Laura Langman	New Zealand	2003–2020
6	150	Maria Folau	New Zealand	2005–2019
7	146	Geva Mentor	England	2001–
8	138	Leana de Bruin	South Africa (34) New Zealand (104)	1996–2016
9	137	Katrina Rore	New Zealand	2008–
10	127	Lesley MacDonald	Scotland	1999–2014

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sports honours caps.

• Men's Records and Facts—FIFA
• Players with 100+ Caps (men) RSSSF
• Picture of International Football Cap—National Museum of Scotland
• Gallery of International Caps and Honours Caps