“Pakistanis can’t play soccer well because every time they get a corner, they open a shop”
People from Pakistan and India (and other nationalities) have reputations for opening businesses, but not being very good at soccer. A riddle is:
Q: Why doesn’t Pakistan have an international football team?
A: Because each time they get a corner, they open a shop.
The pun is on a “corner”—a “corner” kick and a “corner” shop. The joke has been popular since at least 1992.
Google Books
Point of Arrival:
Observations Made on an Extended Visit
By Andrew Graham-Yooll
London, UK: Pluto Press
1992
Pg. 122:
The jokes abound: ‘Why doesn’t Pakistan/India ever win an international soccer match?’ Because every time they get a corner they open up a shop.
Google Groups: soc.culture.indian.telugu
Jokulu: Anji(?) in the US
shailendra
11/14/94
(...)
Q: Why don’t indians in the UK play football( soccer for the ABCD’s)?
A: Because, whenever they get a corner they open a shop.
Google Groups: alt.tasteless.jokes
MOTOR RACING
John Lancaster
12/14/94
(...)
Why dont pakistanis play soccer ?
Every time they get a corner they open a fuckin’ shop !!
Google Groups: rec.humor
SYNTHETIC DYSLEXIA #52
potato farmer
8/14/95
(...)
I decided to bribe a soccer official to give the Greek soccer team plenty of corners in their next World Cup qualifier, since if they get a corner they open a tea-room on it, which would lead to time wasting etc etc.
7 November 1999, News of the World (London, UK), “Curry on Eddie!” by Gary Ward, pg. 97:
It’s mission impossible for May because Pakistan have NEVER reached the finals. It’s become a long-standing joke that it’s because every time they get a corner they open a shop!
24 August 2001, The Daily Telegraph (London, UK), “Marketing the corner,” pg. 29:
SIR - Ray Honeyford’s letter “Football clubs are not guilty of racism” (August 23) is right. Different cultures excel at different things. Here in Liverpool, the lack of Asian players is attributed to their commercial acumen: “Every time they get a corner they open a shop on it.”
Fritz Spiegl
Liverpool
Twitter
Dready
@JFash
Joke : Why are Arab soccer teams so shitty? ....... Because every time they get a corner, they open up a shop.
12:31 AM - 6 Jun 2009
Twitter
Dæmien Kravinov
@GetKraven
Why are Hindi football teams so shitty?Everytime they get a corner they open up a shop!
1:57 AM - 4 Aug 2009
Twitter
Footy Jokes ™
@FootyJokes
#Football Q. Why doesn’t Pakistan have an international football team?
A. Because each time they get a corner, they open a shop.
10:05 AM - 13 Jul 2011
Reddit—Jokes
Why are Indians so bad at soccer?
submitted September 21, 2014 by Nicekicksbro
Because everytime they get a corner they open a stall.
Reddit—Jokes
Why do Chinese people suck at soccer?
submitted January 9, 2015 by dumledum
Because every time they get a corner they open up a restaurant.
Reddit—Jokes
Why are Asians no good a football ( soccer) ?
submitted June 16, 2015 by M261JB
Because whenever they get a corner they open a shop !
Reddit—Jokes
Why do Pakistanis love football (soccer) so much?
submitted December 22, 2015 by medstudent115
... Because whenever they get a corner they open a 7/11.
PS: I’m Pakistani and I found this joke to be hilarious.
Reddit—Jokes
Q: Why don’t Indians play football?
submitted November 16, 2016 by [deleted]
A: Because every time they get a corner they open up a shop or a seven eleven.
South Coast Sun (Durban, South Africa)
Soccer #worldcup2018 Portugal vs Morocco
A roundup of the game
June 20, 2018
There’s an old joke that Portugal (and Greece) can’t play great soccer because every time they get a corner, they open a shop.
Twitter
CORY ♠️
@CoryThomas94
Someone said the only reason Pakistan isn’t in the World Cup is because every time they have a corner they open a corner shop. #WorldCup2018
1:49 PM - 20 Jun 2018