Sharafat Ali

Sharafat Ali (; born 1 June 1966) is a Pakistani former footballer who played as a striker. Ali was praised for his goalscoring abilities, and is credited for scoring Pakistan's first ever goal in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in the country's first participation in 1989.

Starting his youth career with local club Pak Fighters, Ali won the 1981 National Youth Championship with the regional Multan Division youth team. He later represented departmental side WAPDA throughout his career at the National Football Championship, winning two national titles.

Ali was a key player for Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s, initially standing out as a regular goal scorer in the 1984 Merdeka Tournament. 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. In 1987, Ali was appointed as captain for the 1987 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament. 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 through a penalty kick in a 1–4 loss against UAE. He also won the 1989 and 1991 South Asian Games with Pakistan.

Early life Ali was born on 1 June 1966 in Multan in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The second oldest among four brothers, Ali matriculated from Government Pilot Secondary School in Multan.

Club career

Youth career Ali started playing football at the age of 10, joining Pak Fighters Football Club.

WAPDA In 1983, Ali joined WAPDA, 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.

International career Ali was first selected for the Pakistan national football team at the 1982 Bangladesh President's Gold Cup. The next year, he played in two test matches against the visiting South-West Region German team in Rawalpindi and Karachi.

Ali participated in the 1984 Merdeka Tournament, scoring in a 1–2 defeat against South Korea U20, Primera B XI of Argentina, and two goals in a 2–0 victory against Algeria U20. 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. The next year, he scored two goals at the 1985 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament held in Peshawar in a 1–0 victory against Nepal and a 1–3 defeat against Bangladesh. He also participated in the subsequent 1986 Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament held in Islamabad. His long range goal in the 1987 South Asian Games against Maldives placed Pakistan second in the group stages, 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.

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 through a penalty kick in the 83rd minute in a 1–4 loss against UAE.

Career statistics

International goals Scores and results list Pakistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sharafat goal.

Honours

Multan Youth Division National Youth Football Championship Winners (1): 1981

WAPDA

National Football Championship Winners (2): 1983, 1991

Pakistan

South Asian Games Winners (2): 1989, 1991