Cap (sport) |
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In
An early illustration of the
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]
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 prior to a player's debut or, particularly for national teams, a commemorative cap may be awarded after a player reaches the 100th cap.[2][3]
As an example, the men's association football teams still awards 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 only one cap, he received only his 85th physical cap.[4]
The world record holder for the highest number of international caps as of 5 November 2010 is retired
FIFA rules state that any club that refuses to release a player for national team duty is barred from using the player for two matches, a rule which is intended to discourage clubs from pretending that the player is injured. However, it is a player's choice to refuse to play for or retire from his or her national team.
Some current leading holders of association football caps (as of 8 September 2019) are:
Bold denotes players currently active in international football.
Bold denotes players currently active in international football.