Will cricket remain Pakistan's most watched sport?

[a_tahir]

Whenever a football match is on, it always trends at no.1 on twitter but i've never really seen people playing football in pakistan.
How long will it take for football to become pakistan's most watched sport? Or will cricket stay as the most watched?

 

[a_tahir]

Watched*

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

but i've never really seen people playing football in pakistan.

You cant be serious.

In Islamabad, playing wise, football is more popular than cricket. Kids, teenagers and men in 20s prefer playing football than cricket. Grounds and streets are filled with folks playing football rather than cricket.

 

[a_tahir]

You cant be serious.

In Islamabad, playing wise, football is more popular than cricket. Kids, teenagers and men in 20s prefer playing football than cricket. Grounds and streets are filled with folks playing football rather than cricket.

Maybe in my area its a minority.
If there are many people that're playing football, there needs to be a proper system so pft can improve. We're ranked like 200.

 

[Gullycricket]

Yes.PSL is ur answer

 

[pakistani pride]

LOL it will take a 100 years to replace cricket as the no 1 sport in PAK or even in the subcontinent.

 

[Pak Warrior]

Cricket by a long shot. I always see boys playing cricket around me, football is played much less

 

[nextover666666]

In terms of watched I would say cricket because it's the sport your national team is doing well in, during big world tournaments for football we do have people that follow, a lot but for football to take over as most watched sport in the country the national team needs to perform well on the international level and atleast qualify for Asian cup than you can see a shift but even at that it will take time because cricket has become. Part of our culture

In terms of playing depends on the regions places like Balochistan lyari and KPK and Islamabad a lot of people play football but in those regions as well you have a lot of people playing cricket too in Karachi and Hyderabad I think it's pretty mixed and in lahore and Sialkot you have a lot of cricket played as well

One thing I saw which was to my suprise is when I went Saragoda in 2017 more and more youngsters were playing football

 

[LegendAli]

You cant be serious.

In Islamabad, playing wise, football is more popular than cricket. Kids, teenagers and men in 20s prefer playing football than cricket. Grounds and streets are filled with folks playing football rather than cricket.

What do you mean he can't be serious? He's absolutely right.

 

[Syed1]

Definitely see a lot more youngsters playing football than cricket now. If football gets government backing and a clean organized board rather than corruption epicenter that PFF is atm, football could really take off in Pak. We can be competitive at the Asian level at least.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

What do you mean he can't be serious? He's absolutely right.

He may be right for his place but not for Islamabad and his initial post said "i've never really seen people playing football in pakistan". See the last word 'Pakistan'. You guys should visit Islamabad and see for yourself if you dont believe me.

 

[Chokli]

lol pakistan and india have no future as a soccer nation.

 

[Pak Warrior]

Can I add an observation, when I see kids playing football I dont see the same seriousness or effort that I see kids in my gully playing cricket. Around me kids play football just as time pass

 

[KingKhanWC]

Cricket will remain as long as Pakistan football team is poor.

The weather is also more appropriate for cricket. It's difficult to play football when the temp rises over 25c.

 

[a_tahir]

Can I add an observation, when I see kids playing football I dont see the same seriousness or effort that I see kids in my gully playing cricket. Around me kids play football just as time pass

This.
This is what i mean. Even if i see people playing football, it's just doesn't have the same intensity as when they play cricket. It's more of a timepass sport than a proper one like cricket(In sialkot).

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Playing football doesn't equate to we have world class players. For that you need proper system, coaches, clubs etc etc etc and it will take atleast 20 years more.

But one cannot deny that folks play football in Pakistan. Our street football team won some international tournament few years back. They were not playing on Mars. You can easily play football in the streets and little grounds in Pakistan. You just need one football and can easily find places to play 7 a side and put bricks or shoes as goals. Plus football is much more physically active game than cricket and kind of everyone is involved at the same time so no surprises if kids choose it over cricket.

 

[pakistani pride]

lol pakistan and india have no future as a soccer nation.

This. People need to understand football has no future in PAK or INDIA.

It will just not happen.

 

[Realromeo]

lol pakistan and india have no future as a soccer nation.

I want Soccer to be the most played sport in India. Simply because every Indian child can afford to play Soccer while most kids cannot afford to play organized cricket. It is so sad that 3rd world nation like India and Pakistan are crazy about a sport that most of the population cannot afford to play.

 

[Chokli]

I want Soccer to be the most played sport in India. Simply because every Indian child can afford to play Soccer while most kids cannot afford to play organized cricket. It is so sad that 3rd world nation like India and Pakistan are crazy about a sport that most of the population cannot afford to play.

soccer is a boring sport

 

[Syed1]

Playing football doesn't equate to we have world class players. For that you need proper system, coaches, clubs etc etc etc and it will take atleast 20 years more.

But one cannot deny that folks play football in Pakistan. Our street football team won some international tournament few years back. They were not playing on Mars. You can easily play football in the streets and little grounds in Pakistan. You just need one football and can easily find places to play 7 a side and put bricks or shoes as goals. Plus football is much more physically active game than cricket and kind of everyone is involved at the same time so no surprises if kids choose it over cricket.

Football is a miles better sport than cricket, there is a reason why cricket is only played seriously by 10-12 countries. While football is played by 100+. Even countries like Canada that have winter for 6 months dump massive amounts of money in the development of the sport.


I want to see Pak qualify for Fifa WC at least once in my lifetime. I remember a few years back maybe during Mush era football was getting unprecedented sport and our team was also doing well. I think we also lost to Japan 3-2 in a match which a big achievement because Japan and Korea are two best Asian sides. Then democracy came and as we all know "democracy is the best revenge", the rest is history.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

I want to see Pak qualify for Fifa WC at least once in my lifetime.

This is one of my wish in life too.

From what i heard, Faisal Saleh Hayat has completely destroyed our football and the progress we were making. And when they tried to remove him Fifa put a ban on Pakistan. I hate this man. Chipak he gya hai.

 

[Realromeo]

soccer is a boring sport

Not a fan of soccer either, but it lasts 2.30. Cricket on paper sounds like an extremely boring sport. Soccer is the #1 sport in the world and growing. Cricket is "growing" but its just desis playing.

 

[PakLFC]

We can't see beyond Cricket. If Cricket and Football were showing simultaneously in Pak no one would be watching Football.

 

[nextover666666]

The saddest thing is no one watches of playes hockey or squash two sports which we had so much success I know best decade in both sports we have been poor maybe longer I would say but the legacy we had was so beautiful in both sports

 

[Mamoon]

For that to happen, Pakistan will need to achieve something substantial in football, such as qualify for the World Cup, which will never happen.

It is true that in cities like Islamabad, you’d see more kids playing football than cricket, but that is not enough for it to surpass the latter in terms of popularity and nation wide appeal.

Pakistan has been a mediocre cricket team for about 15 years now, but we have still had quite a few highs and have a heritage of 65+ years of cricket.

It is more than a sport for us and is deeply embedded in our culture. It will take a lot of doing for football to overcome all of that and I don’t see it happening.

Same is true in India as well. Their football team is much better than ours and they are investing a lot of money.

In due time, they will play a World Cup as well and are also a potential host nation for FIFA, but in spite of all that, cricket is different beast in India and a part of their cultural and history.

Countries like Pakistan and India have not simply picked up cricket as a sport. They have grown as countries with cricket and it is a part of their identity.

For us, cricket is what football is to the likes of Brazil and Argentina. For them, football will never be replaced by other sports.

Hence, those who are writing obituaries for cricket and expect football to surpass it in terms of popularity are simply engaging in wishful thinking.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Look up football administrators.
They are as corrupt as ever mashallah
Hayat ruined everything.

 

[hk031992]

For that to happen, Pakistan will need to achieve something substantial in football, such as qualify for the World Cup, which will never happen.

It is true that in cities like Islamabad, you’d see more kids playing football than cricket, but that is not enough for it to surpass the latter in terms of popularity and nation wide appeal.

Pakistan has been a mediocre cricket team for about 15 years now, but we have still had quite a few highs and have a heritage of 65+ years of cricket.

It is more than a sport for us and is deeply embedded in our culture. It will take a lot of doing for football to overcome all of that and I don’t see it happening.

Same is true in India as well. Their football team is much better than ours and they are investing a lot of money.

In due time, they will play a World Cup as well and are also a potential host nation for FIFA, but in spite of all that, cricket is different beast in India and a part of their cultural and history.

Countries like Pakistan and India have not simply picked up cricket as a sport. They have grown as countries with cricket and it is a part of their identity.

For us, cricket is what football is to the likes of Brazil and Argentina. For them, football will never be replaced by other sports.

Hence, those who are writing obituaries for cricket and expect football to surpass it in terms of popularity are simply engaging in wishful thinking.

one of the rare occasions where i will agree with you 100%