What is a cap in soccer?

When you watch a soccer game whether it is on the Television screen, on that very slow and annoying internet stream, you might hear many soccer commentators, reporters, or even players talking about ‘caps’, ‘being capped’, ‘first cap’? You might have been puzzled about what a cap actually means.

In this post, I am going to explain what is a cap in soccer and I am going to give you some examples.

What is a cap?

In soccer, a cap is a word used to refer to an international appearance for their country by a soccer player. When they play their first international game, it is called their first cap or being capped for the first time. Each additional appearance adds to the number of caps a player has.

The history of the term cap

The word cap dates from the practice in the united kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match where they represented their country.

In the early days of soccer, the concept of each team a set of the same shirts and shorts was not universally adopted so each side will distinguish itself by wearing a certain type of cap.

The first player to reach 50 caps and 100 caps

 Imre Schlosser had the distinction of being the first soccer player to reach 50 caps, he did it in1916. While the first soccer player to have 100 caps was England Billy Wright, he did it in 1959.

Who is the player with ost caps in men’s soccer?

Soh Chin Ann from Malaysia is a soccer player with the most international caps in men’s football. He played 195 times for his country. 

The second place goes to Bader Al-Mutawa from Kuwait with 186 caps and the Egyptian  Ahmed Hassan comes number three with 184 caps.

Active players with the most caps are Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos, both have 180 caps at the time of writing this.

Who is the player with ost caps in women’s soccer?

While none of the men mentioned above has reached 200 caps, the story is different when it comes to women’s soccer. At the time of writing this 23 women has 200 or more caps for their countries.

Kristine Lilly is the most woman with the most caps in women’s soccer, she represented the United States Women Soccer Team (USWST) 354 times.

Carli Lloyd also from the United States comes second with 312 caps while Christie Pearce comes third with 311 caps.

The active player with the most caps in women’s soccer is also Carli Lloyd with 312 caps, her last cap was 5 August 2021. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games.