In the match against Ghana at the 2022 World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo appeared on the field for Portugal for the 192nd time. The achievement seems impressive, but the Portuguese striker does not hold the record for the number of caps played for the national team. This record belongs to the striker of the Kuwait national team Bader Al-Mutwa (196 matches!).
Until Ronaldo beat this achievement, let's get acquainted with the current record holder.
In 2010, Al-Mutwa became top scorer among the players of all teams in the world. He could have played more for Kuwait, but a two-year ban from the federation prevented him
Al-Mutwa was born on January 10, 1985 and in the mid-90s he started at the Al-Qadisiya Academy from the city of Al-Kuwait. It is interesting that initially he played as a goalkeeper, but over time he retrained melbet-azerbaycan.com as a striker.
In 2002, he made his debut in adult football for the same Al Qadisiya, and already in 2003, the Brazilian coach of Kuwait, Paulo Cesar Carpegiani, included 18 -year-old Bader in the application of the national team for the selection for the Olympics. It was a rather bold decision, but the young striker lived up to expectations by scoring in the first match against Singapore.
In November 2003, Al-Mutwa could even meet with someone who now encroaches on his record of Cristiano Ronaldo. Then the Kuwaiti national team played a friendly match with the Portuguese national team, but Cristiano was not in the squad. The Europeans did a great job and, without a future superstar, ran over an opponent 8-0 (the biggest defeat in the history of Kuwait).
Al-Mutwa scored a total of 56 goals for the Kuwait national team and went to three Asian Cups in 2004, 2011 and 2015. In all three cases, Kuwait did not even make it out of the group. Bader did not manage to drive to the World Cup either. The selection of Kuwaiti players did not involve a struggle for first places in the qualification.
The striker still did not remain without trophies in the national team. In 2010, the Kuwait team won two local trophies at once, became the owner of the Gulf Cup and the champion of Western Asia. In the Gulf Cup, Al-Mutwa became one of the two top scorers of the tournament, scoring three goals together with the Egyptian Ala Abdulzahra. Oh and David Villa.
At the international level, Bader could have played much more than 196 matches, but in 2015 FIFA suspended the Kuwait national team from all international matches due to state interference in the affairs of the local federation. The suspension lasted until 2017 and prevented Kuwait from participating in the qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup. If the ban had not happened, Al-Mutwa would have already crossed the bar of 200 caps played for the national team.
Before Bader, the record for the number of caps played for the national team belonged to Malaysian Song Chin An, who had 195 caps from 1969 to 1984 year. Al-Mutwa broke the record in mid-June 2022 by playing 25 minutes in qualifying for the Asian Cup with the Jordan national team.
Al-Mutwa is a Kuwaiti football legend. He could gain a foothold in Nottingham Forrest, but the English government prevented
Throughout his career, Bader belonged to only one Al-Qadisiya club. Only twice did Al-Mutwa briefly leave his home team: in 2007 he went on loan to Qatar SC (0 matches), and in 2011 to Al-Nasr from Saudi Arabia (9 matches, 3 goals). For Al Qadisiya, Bader played a total of 290 matches and scored 150 goals.
In Al Qadisiya, the striker won everything he could, became an eight-time national champion, several times collected numerous domestic cups, including six Kuwait Super Cups. With Al Qadisiyah, the forward and one international trophy caught the AFC Cup, which is considered the second most important Asian club tournament.
The most curious moment in Bader's club career is connected not with Al Qadisiyah, but with Nottingham Forest. In July 2012, the Kuwaiti Al-Khasawi family bought the Championship club and immediately tried to attract Kuwaiti talent.
