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Afghanistan women's national football team
Women's national association football team representing Afghanistan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Afghanistan women's national football team (Dari: تیم ملی فوتبال زنان افغانستان) is the women's national team of Afghanistan until the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
They played under the authority of the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) until women's football was banned in their home country under Taliban rule.
In May 2025, FIFA has sanctioned the creation of an Afghan women's refugee team.
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History
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Early history
The team was formed in 2007 by the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee with players drawn from among selected school girls in Kabul.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
In an attempt to improve the quality of women's football, the team was sent to Germany in 2008 to hold a preparation camp. Later in the year, the Afghan team traveled to Jordan to participate in the Islamic Countries Women's Football Tournament.[9]
In May 2010, Danish sports brand Hummel International sponsored male, female and youth teams of Afghanistan.[10]
The 2010 SAFF Women's Championship in Bangladesh marked the first appearance of Afghanistan in a major international tournament. In it, they played their first official game, against Nepal, where they were defeated by an overwhelming 13–0 scoreline.[11]
2016 marked a big year for the Afghanistan Women's National Team as they received support from the Afghanistan Football Federation and hired new coaching staff, comprising head coach Kelly Lindsey, assistant coach Haley Carter, and program director Khalida Popal.[12]
In November 2018, male staff of the Afghanistan Football Federation were accused of sexual and physical abuse of Afghanistan women's players.[13] The alleged abusers included the federation's president, Keramuudin Karim.[14]
2021 exodus
In August 2021, following the second takeover of the country by the Taliban, former team captain Khalida Popal who was based in Denmark, urged players to delete their social media accounts, erase public identities and burn their kits for safety's sake as they are again under Taliban rule.[15] On 25 August, the Australian government announced they had evacuated 75 Afghan women athletes including football players. FIFPro and Popal worked with authorities in six countries, including Australia, the US, and the UK, to get athletes and their families airlifted out of Afghanistan. FIFPro general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann described the evacuations as "an incredibly complex process".[16][17]
The national team also withdrew from the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifiers.[18]
In March 2022, the national team was admitted into Football Victoria's state league:[19] they were placed in State League 4 West, the seventh tier of Australian women's football and sixth in the Victorian structure, as Melbourne Victory FC AWT.[20] They were promoted after both the 2022 and 2023 seasons and are playing in State League 2 for 2024.[21]
In May 2022, the team's development side which were relocated to the UK following the fall of Kabul played a friendly against non-FIFA team Surrey in Dorking.[22][23]
Afghanistan was included in the draw in January 2023 for the 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.[24] The CAFF released a statement inviting players based outside the country to play for the women's national team. However, Afghanistan would be withdrawn by the AFC. The statement, which was by an individual based in Albania who was still accredited as the media director of the AFF, was taken down by the federation. The AFF released another statement that it would not allow any players based abroad to represent the country or intend to organize a women's national team at all due to the laws of the Taliban.[25]
FIFA-recognized refugee team
In May 2025, FIFA sanctioned the creation of a Afghanistan women's refugee team which will be allowed to compete in official tournaments. The program will tentatively run for one year under a pilot phase.[26][27] Pauline Hamill was appointed as head coach and is tasked to hold three identification camps prior to playing FIFA-approved friendlies in late 2025.[28] Reportedly they are still unable to compete in international competitions.[29]
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Results and fixtures
Coaching history
Competitive record
FIFA Women's World Cup
Summer Olympics
AFC Women's Asian Cup
CAFA Women's Championship
- *Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
SAFF Women's Championship
- *Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
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Head-to-head record
- As of 27 March 2024
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See also
References
External links
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