View source for Arif Mehmood

{{Short description|Pakistani footballer (born 1983)}}
{{For|those of a similar name|Arif Mahmood (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Arif Mehmood
| image = 
| image_size = 
| alt = 
| caption = 
| fullname = 
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1983|06|21}}
| birth_place = [[Multan]], Pakistan
| height = {{height|m=1.68}}
| position = [[Striker (association football)|Forward]]
| youthyears1 = 1998–2001
| youthclubs1 = [[WAPDA F.C.|WAPDA]]
| years1 = 2001–2015
| clubs1 = [[WAPDA F.C.|WAPDA]]
| caps1 = 283
| goals1 = 188
| totalcaps = 283
| totalgoals = 188
| nationalyears1 = 2002–2004
| nationalteam1 = [[Pakistan national under-23 football team|Pakistan U23]]
| nationalcaps1 = 
| nationalgoals1 = 
| nationalyears2 = 2003–2012
| nationalteam2 = [[Pakistan national football team|Pakistan]]
| nationalcaps2 = 21
| nationalgoals2 = 7
| pcupdate = 
| ntupdate = 
| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{fb|PAK}}}}
{{Medal|W|[[South Asian Games]]|[[2004 South Asian Games|2004]]}}
}}

'''Arif Mehmood''' (born 21 June 1983) is a Pakistani former footballer who played as a [[Forward (association football)#Centre-forward|striker]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Arif Mehmood (Player) |url=https://www.national-football-teams.com/player/5020/Arif_Mehmood.html |access-date= |website=www.national-football-teams.com |language=en}}</ref> He has been the top-scorer in the [[Pakistan Premier League]] five times, leading the charts in [[2004-05 Pakistan Premier League|2004–05]], [[2006–07 Pakistan Premier League|2006–07]], [[2007–08 Pakistan Premier League|2007–08]], [[2009-10 Pakistan Premier League|2009–10]] and [[2010–11 Pakistan Premier League|2010–11]].

==Early life==
Mehmood was born on 21 June 1983 in [[Multan]] in the [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] province of [[Pakistan]]. He completed his studies from [[Government Comprehensive Boys High School, Samanabad|Government Comprehensive Boys High School]] and graduated in engineering from Government Technology College.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=2013-04-14 |title=فٹ بال ہیروز کی دنیا |trans-title=World of Football Heroes |url=https://e.dunya.com.pk/detail.php?date=2013-04-14&edition=KCH&id=291049_94361486 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250206021053/https://e.dunya.com.pk/detail.php?date=2013-04-14&edition=KCH&id=291049_94361486 |archive-date=2025-02-06 |access-date= |website=[[Daily Dunya]] |language=ur}}</ref>

==Club career==
Mehmood started his career with the amateur team Young Gulshan Multan, from where [[WAPDA F.C.|WAPDA]] scouted him and selected him in their youth team in 1998.<ref name=":02" /> Mehmood got called up to the senior team in the [[2004-05 Pakistan Premier League]] season, where he scored 20 goals in 30 appearances, earning the top-scorer award. WAPDA won their [[Pakistan Premier League#List of champions by season|first Premier League title]] and [[List of Pakistan football champions|fifth league title]], Mehmood contributing substantially to the title win.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Ahsan |first=Ali |date=2011-02-02 |title=A history of football in Pakistan — Final part |url=https://www.dawn.com/2011/02/02/a-history-of-football-in-pakistan-final-part/ |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref> WAPDA qualified for the [[2005 AFC President's Cup]] after winning the league. They were placed in [[2005 AFC President's Cup#Group B|Group B]], with [[Blue Star SC]], [[FC Dordoi Bishkek]] and [[Phnom Penh Crown FC]]. Mehmood scored two goals in three appearances, which included the only goal of the match against Dordoi Bishkek.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/Documents/common/cms/afc/ms_680.pdf |title=2005 AFC President Cup |publisher=AFC |date=May 7, 2005 |website=AFC |access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/Documents/common/cms/afc/ms_677.pdf |title=2005 AFC President Cup |publisher=AFC |date=May 9, 2005 |website=AFC |access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref>

In [[2005-06 Pakistan Premier League]] season WAPDA finished [[Pakistan Army F.C.|Army FC]], and repeating the same feat in [[2006-07 Pakistan Premier League]], although this time Mehmood finished as top scorer after scoring 19 goals in 20 appearances.

Mehmood won the league for a second time in [[2007-08 Pakistan Premier League]] after beating Army in the last day of the season and winning the league by 1 point. Mehmood was again the top scorer, scoring 21 goals in 26 games. WAPDA qualified for [[2008 AFC President's Cup]] where they finished bottom of the group.

Mehmood got his hands on more silverware after winning the league again in [[2008-09 Pakistan Premier League]] season. In this process they qualified for [[2009 AFC President's Cup]]. Mehmood scored a brace against [[Taiwan Power Company F.C.|Taiwan Power Company]], WAPDA won the game 1–3, finishing second in the group.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the-afc.com/Documents/competitions/fixtures/364-1981.pdf |title=2009 AFC President Cup |publisher=AFC |date=May 18, 2009 |website=AFC |access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref> WAPDA once again faced their group [[Regar-TadAZ Tursunzoda|Regar-TadAZ]] in the [[2009 AFC President's Cup#Semi-finals|semi-finals]], WAPDA lost the game 4–3 in [[Overtime (sports)#Association football|extra time]] with Mehmood scoring the second goal for WAPDA and third goal of the match in the 84th minute.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the-afc.com/en/component/joomleague/?view=report&compID=364&matchId=2521 |title=2009 AFC President Cup semi-finals |publisher=AFC |date=September 25, 2009 |website=AFC |access-date=September 2, 2018}}</ref>

In [[2009-10 Pakistan Premier League|2009–10]], WAPDA ended third position but Mehmood was declared the top scorer for the fourth time with 20 goals. In [[2010-11 Pakistan Premier League|2010–11]], Pakistan WAPDA was able to claim the title of national champion for the sixth time thanks to Mehmood's 21 goals.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Agencies |date=2010-12-31 |title=PPFL concludes; Wapda stroll into AFC President’s Cup |url=https://www.dawn.com/2010/12/31/ppfl-concludes-wapda-stroll-into-afc-presidents-cup/ |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref>

== International career ==
Mehmood was first selected for the [[Pakistan national under-20 football team|Pakistan national under-19 team]] in 2000 and went to Sri Lanka. Later played in the [[Football at the 2002 Asian Games – Men's tournament|2002 Asian Games]] in South Korea.<ref name=":02" />

Mehmood earned his first senior international cap in 2003 during the [[2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)|2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers]] in a 0–2 loss against [[Kyrgyzstan]].<ref name=":0" /> He scored his first international goal in a 3–0 victory against [[India national football team|India]] in 2005.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2005-06-19 |title=Pakistan beat India, tie football series |url=https://www.rediff.com/sports/report/foot/20050619.htm |access-date= |website=Rediff |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

He was also called by the [[Pakistan national under-23 football team|Pakistan under-23 national team]] for the [[Football at the 2004 South Asian Games|2004 South Asian Games]], where he helped Pakistan win the gold medal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=9th South Asian Federation Games 2004 (Pakistan) |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/safg01.html |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>

==Career statistics==
===Club===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
! rowspan="2" |Club
! rowspan="2" |Season
! colspan="2" |League
! colspan="2" |[[National Football Challenge Cup|League Cup]]
! colspan="2" |[[Asian Football Confederation|Asia]]<ref>Refers to the [[AFC President's Cup]].</ref>
! colspan="2" |Total
|-
!Apps||Goals||Apps||Goals||Apps||Goals||Apps||Goals
|-
| rowspan="13" |[[WAPDA F.C.|WAPDA]]
| !colspan="2" |2003<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2003 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki03.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|6||5|| colspan="2" |–|| colspan="2" |–||6||5
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2004–05 Pakistan Premier League|2004–05]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2004 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki04.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|30||20|| colspan="2" |–|| colspan="2" |–||30||20
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2005–06 Pakistan Premier League|2005–06]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2005 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki05.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|22||16||7||4||3||2||32||22
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2006–07 Pakistan Premier League|2006–07]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2006/07 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki06.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|20||12||2||2|| colspan="2" |–||22||14
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2007–08 Pakistan Premier League|2007–08]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2007/08 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki07.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|26||21|| colspan="2" |–|| colspan="2" |–||26||21
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2008–09 Pakistan Premier League|2008–09]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2008/09 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki08.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|26||18||5||5||4||3||35||26
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2009–10 Pakistan Premier League|2009–10]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2009/10 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki09.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|26||20||4||5|| colspan="2" |–||30||25
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2010–11 Pakistan Premier League|2010–11]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2010/11 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki2010.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|30||21||5||6||3||0||38||28
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2011–12 Pakistan Premier League|2011–12]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2011/12 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki2011.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|30||16|| colspan="2" |–||3||1||30||16
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2012–13 Pakistan Premier League|2012–13]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2012/13 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki2012.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|21||14||4||3|| colspan="2" |–||25||17
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2013–14 Pakistan Premier League|2013–14]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2013/14 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki2013.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|30||19|| colspan="2" |–|| colspan="2" |–||30||19
|-
| !colspan="2" |[[2014–15 Pakistan Premier League|2014–15]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan 2014/15 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/paki2014.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|22||11||4||2|| colspan="2" |–||26||13
|-
!Total
!289!!193!!31!!27!!13!!6!!333!!226
|-
! colspan="2" |Career total
!289!!193!!31!!27!!13!!6!!333!!226
|}

=== International ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Appearances and goals by year and competition<ref name=":0" />
!National team
!Year
!Apps
!Goals
|-
| rowspan="5" |[[Pakistan National Football Team|Pakistan]]
|2003
|2
|0
|-
|2005
|7
|1
|-
|2008
|3
|1
|-
|2009
|4
|3
|-
|2011
|5
|2
|-
! colspan="2" |Total
!21
!7
|}

=== International goals ===

==== U-23 ====
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! scope="col" |No.
! scope="col" |Date
! scope="col" |Venue
! scope="col" |Opponent
! scope="col" |Score
! scope="col" |Result
! scope="col" |Competition
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |Ref.
|-
! scope="row" |1
| rowspan="1" |31 January 2010
|[[MA Aziz Stadium]], [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]]
|{{fb|AFG}}
| align="center" |'''1'''–1
| align="center" |1–2
|[[Football at the 2010 South Asian Games – Men's tournament|2010 South Asian Games]]
|<ref>{{cite web |date=February 18, 2016 |title=11th South Asian Federation Games 2010 (Bangladesh) |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/safg2010.html |access-date=July 12, 2019 |website=[[RSSSF]]}}</ref>
|}

==== Senior ====
:''Scores and results list Pakistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mehmood goal.''
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|+
! scope="col" |No.
! scope="col" |Date
! scope="col" |Venue
! scope="col" |Opponent
! scope="col" |Score
! scope="col" |Result
! scope="col" |Competition
! scope="col" class="unsortable" |{{Abbr|Ref.|References}}
|-
| align="center" |1
| rowspan="1" |18 June 2005
|[[Punjab Stadium]], [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]]
|{{fb|IND}}
| align="center" |'''3'''–0
| align="center" |3–0
|[[Exhibition game#Association football|Friendly]]
|<ref name=":1" />
|-
| align="center" |2
| rowspan="1" |10 October 2008
|[[Kuala Lumpur]], [[Malaysia]]
|{{fb|MAS}}
| align="center" |'''1'''–4
| align="center" |1–4
|Friendly
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=International Friendly Matches 2008 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesf/friend-intres2008.html |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=www.rsssf.org}}</ref>
|-
| align="center" |3
| rowspan="3" |8 December 2009
| rowspan="3" |[[Bangabandhu National Stadium]], [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]]
| rowspan="3" |{{fb|BHU}}
| align="center" |'''3'''–0
| rowspan="3" align="center" |7–0
| rowspan="3" |[[2009 SAFF Championship|2009 South Asian Football Federation Championship]]
| rowspan="3" |<ref>{{cite web |date=December 9, 2009 |title=Arif hat-trick helps Pakistan bulldoze Bhutan 7-0 |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/899854 |access-date=January 2, 2019 |website=dawn.com |publisher=DAWN}}</ref>
|-
| align="center" |4
| align="center" |'''4'''–0
|-
| align="center" |5
| align="center" |'''7'''–0
|-
| align="center" |6
| rowspan="1" |21 March 2011
|[[Petaling Jaya Stadium|MBPJ Stadium]], [[Petaling Jaya]], [[Malaysia]]
|{{fb|IND}}
| align="center" |'''1'''–0
| align="center" |1–3
|[[2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification]]
|<ref>{{cite web |date=March 23, 2012 |title=AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifiers: Pakistan 1-3 India - Great Second Half Comeback By Team India |url=https://www.goal.com/en-india/news/3618/afc-challenge-cup-2012/2011/03/23/2407598/afc-challenge-cup-2012-qualifiers-pakistan-1-3-india-great |access-date=January 2, 2019 |website=goal.com |publisher=Goal}}</ref>
|-
| align="center" |7
| rowspan="1" |25 March 2011
|MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
|{{fb|TPE}}
| align="center" |'''1'''–0
| align="center" |2–0
|2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
|
|}

== Honours ==

=== WAPDA ===
* [[Pakistan Premier League]] (4): [[2004-05 Pakistan Premier League|2004–05]], [[2007-08 Pakistan Premier League|2007–08]], [[2008-09 Pakistan Premier League|2008–09]], [[2010-11 Pakistan Premier League|2010–11]]

=== Individual ===
* [[Pakistan Premier League#Top scorer|Pakistan Premier League golden boot]] (5): [[2004-05 Pakistan Premier League|2004–05]], [[2006-07 Pakistan Premier League|2006–07]], [[2007-08 Pakistan Premier League|2007–08]], [[2009-10 Pakistan Premier League|2009–10]], [[2010-11 Pakistan Premier League|2010–11]]
'''Pakistan U23'''

* [[South Asian Games]]: [[Football at the 2004 South Asian Games|2004]]

== See also ==

* [[List of Pakistan national football team hat-tricks]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{NFT player|pid=5020}}
* {{GSA player|arif-mehmood/49908}}

{{Pakistan Premier League top scorers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmood, Arif}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Pakistani men's footballers]]
[[Category:Pakistan men's international footballers]]
[[Category:1983 births]]
[[Category:Footballers from Multan]]
[[Category:WAPDA F.C. players]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Asian Games footballers for Pakistan]]
[[Category:South Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan]]
[[Category:South Asian Games medalists in football]]
[[Category:21st-century Pakistani sportsmen]]