Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup
The National Football Challenge Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Pakistani football within the Pakistan football league system. It is organized by and named after the Pakistan Football Federation. Initially named as Inter Departmental Championship, it was introduced in 1979 as a football tournament for departmental selections and armed forces teams excluded from the National Football Championship of Pakistan.
Khan Research Laboratories have won the most titles. WAPDA are the current champions, winning the 2023–24 edition courtesy of a 1–0 win against SA Gardens in the final.
Background
Inter-Departmental Championship (1979)
The Inter-Departmental Championship was introduced in 1979 to offer nationwide competition to departmental selections and armed forces teams excluded from the National Football Championship.Inter-Provincial Championship (1984–1985)
Due to internal conflicts within the PFF, the second and third editions occurred in 1984 and 1985, rebranded as the Inter Provincial Championship. Although provincial teams were allowed to participate, they were reportedly not factored into the final ranking in both the 1984 and 1985 tournaments. The winners of both editions, Pakistan Airlines in 1984, and Habib Bank Limited in 1985 were given a slot in the Asian Champion Club Tournament, marking Pakistan domestic teams debut in Asian club competitions. Later on, the winners of the National Football Championship, a separate tournament, represented Pakistan in Asian competitions.Frequent changes (1987–1994)
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the tournament was held irregularly, undergoing frequent name changes.President PFF Cup (1996–2003)
From 1996, the President's PFF Cup succeeded the earlier National Departmental Championship as the country's principal departments-only knockout tournament, ran in parallel from the National Football Championship which featured provinces and departments, and served as the second most important national football tournament after the National Championship. It was contested annually at single host cities, with group phases leading into knockouts.National Football Challenge Cup (2005–present)
The Pakistan Football Federation under new elected body headed by president Faisal Saleh Hayat abolished the President's PFF Cup along with the National Football Championship in 2004, to a national league. In 2005 the federation launched the National Football Challenge Cup, promoted in contemporary reports as an inaugural tournament and serving as the new national knockout competition. The competition continued the departments-only format of the former President PFF Cup, with some exceptions. In 2005, the restructured Challenge Cup briefly admitted club sides in the preliminary stage before the seeded departments entered later rounds. In 2020, under the FIFA-appointed PFF Normalisation Committee, the field was enlarged to 28 teams and for the first time in over a decade included both departments and private clubs, in an effort to revive competition during administrative suspension and the COVID-19 pandemic.Since then, it has been branded as National Challenge Cup, with the exception of the 2016 PFF Cup, organised by the Lahore High Court appointed PFF administrator Justice Asad Munir. The National Challenge Cup scheduled for April 2016 was later called off due to lack of sponsorship, leaving the PFF Cup as the only national knockout event that year. In 2017, with the Pakistan Football Federation still paralysed by internal disputes and official competitions suspended, National Bank of Pakistan organised the 2017 NBP President’s Cup, although not recognised as an official Pakistan cup competition, it functioned as a substitute competition during the hiatus.
Finals
;Wins by club| Club | Wins | Winning years |
| 6 | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 | |
| Allied Bank Limited | 4 | 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002 |
| Pakistan Army | 3 | 2000, 2001, 2019 |
| Crescent Textile Mills | 2 | 1987, 1992 |
| National Bank | 2 | 1993, 2013 |
| Pakistan Airforce | 2 | 2014, 2018 |
| PTCL | 2 | 2003, 2005 |
| WAPDA | 2 | 2020, 2023–24 |
| Frontier Constabulary | 1 | 1994 |
| Habib Bank | 1 | 1985 |
| Karachi Port Trust | 1 | 1987 |
| Marker Club | 1 | 1991 |
| Pakistan Navy | 1 | 2008 |
| Pakistan Airlines | 1 | 1984 |
| Sindh Government Press | 1 | 1979 |
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.| Club | Wins | First final won | Last final won | Runners-up | Last final lost | Total final appearances |
| Khan Research Laboratories | 6 | 2009 | 2016 | 3 | 2008 | 10 |
| Allied Bank Limited | 4 | 1996 | 2002 | 1 | 2000 | 5 |
| Pakistan Army | 3 | 2000 | 2019 | 1 | 1996 | 4 |
| WAPDA | 2 | 2020 | 2023–24 | 4 | 2018 | 6 |
| National Bank | 2 | 1993 | 2013 | 2 | 2016 | 4 |
| Pakistan Air Force | 2 | 2014 | 2018 | 1 | 2010 | 3 |
| Crescent Textile Mills | 2 | 1987 | 1992 | 0 | – | 2 |
| PTCL | 2 | 2003 | 2005 | 0 | – | 2 |
| Karachi Port Trust | 1 | 1987 | 1987 | 3 | 2003 | 4 |
| Habib Bank | 1 | 1985 | 1985 | 0 | – | 2 |
| Marker Club | 1 | 1991 | 1991 | 1 | 1992 | 2 |
| Pakistan Airlines | 1 | 1984 | 1984 | 1 | 2015 | 3 |
| Pakistan Navy | 1 | 2008 | 2008 | 1 | 2010 | 2 |
| Frontier Constabulary | 1 | 1994 | 1994 | 0 | – | 1 |
| Sindh Government Press | 1 | 1979 | 1979 | 0 | – | 1 |
| K-Electric | 0 | – | – | 4 | 2014 | 4 |
| Sui Southern Gas | 0 | – | – | 2 | 2020 | 2 |
| Muslim Commercial Bank | 0 | – | – | 1 | 1979 | 1 |
| Pakistan Steel | 0 | – | – | 1 | 1993 | 1 |
| SA Gardens | 0 | – | – | 1 | 2023–24 | 1 |
| House Building Finance Corporation | 0 | – | – | 1 | 1990 | 1 |
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 3–2 in group stages. In 2011, second-division club Ashraf Sugar Mills defeated Pakistan Premier League 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, second-division side Pakistan Public Work Department defeated Pakistan Air Force 2–0 in group stages. In 2013, Pak Afghan Clearing defeated league winners and defending champions Khan Research Laboratories 2–1. At the 2023–24 PFF National Challenge Cup, Higher Education Commission, an ad-hoc team of players from different universities and colleges around Pakistan defeated Khan Research Laboratories at the quarterfinals by 1–0 at the stoppage time.
Records and statistics
Final
Team
- Most wins: 6, Khan Research Laboratories
- Most consecutive wins: 4, Khan Research Laboratories
- Most consecutive/uninterrupted years as National Football Challenge Cup Champions: 6, Sindh Government Press
- Most Final appearances without ever winning: 4, K-Electric
- Most Final appearances without ever losing: 4, Khan Research Laboratories
- Most Final appearances without losing : 4, Khan Research Laboratories
- Longest gap between wins: 20 years, National Bank
- Biggest win: 4 goals, Khan Research Laboratories 4–0 Pakistan Navy
- Most goals in a final: 4, joint record:
- *Allied Bank Limited 3–1 Pakistan Army
- *Pakistan Navy 3–1 Khan Research Laboratories
- *Khan Research Laboratories 4–0 Pakistan Navy
- *Pakistan Air Force 3–1 K-Electric
- Most defeats: 4, joint record:
- *K-Electric
- *WAPDA F.C.
Individual
- Most wins by manager: 4, Tariq Lutfi ,
- Most goals : 2, joint record:
- *Sajjad Ahmed
- *Izharullah Khan
- Most finals scored in: 2, joint record:
- *Haroon Yousaf
- *Muhammad Mujahid
- Most goals scored: 23, Muhammad Rasool
All rounds
- Biggest win: City Football Club 2–18 Wohaib
- Biggest away win: City Football Club 2–18 Wohaib
- Most clubs competing for trophy in a season: 28
- Longest penalty shootout: 5 penalties each, Allied Bank Limited v. Khan Research Laboratories
- Most rounds played in a season: 3, for:
- *Bhatti United
- *Karachi United
- *Sui Southern Gas
- Most games played in a season: 7, Karachi United
- Fastest goal: 37 seconds, Ahmed Faheem
- Most consecutive games without defeat: 25, Khan Research Laboratories
- Most consecutive games without defeat: 25, Khan Research Laboratories
- Fastest hat-trick: 5 minutes 51 sec, Umair Ali
- Most goals by a player in a single National Challenge Cup season: 10, Muhammad Rasool
- *Umair Ali
- *Muhammad Waheed