Afghanistan women's national football team

The Afghanistan women's national football team is the women's national team of Afghanistan sanctioned by the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) until women's football was banned in their home country by the Taliban in 2021, but officially recognized by FIFA on April 2026.

In May 2025, FIFA sanctioned the creation of an Afghan women's refugee team later named Afghan Women United to represent the Afghan diaspora which would later be eligible to represent Afghanistan officially starting in April 2026.

History Islamic Republic (2007–2021)

The team was formed in 2007 by the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee with players drawn from among selected school girls in Kabul.

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.

In May 2010, Danish sports brand Hummel International sponsored male, female and youth teams of Afghanistan.

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.

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.

In November 2018, male staff of the Afghanistan Football Federation were accused of sexual and physical abuse of Afghanistan women's players. The alleged abusers included the federation's president, Keramuudin Karim. In June 2019, FIFA imposed a life ban on Karim, barring him from all football-related activity after an investigation found him guilty of "having abused his position and sexually abused various female players".

The national team played their last official match, a 0–5 loss to Tajikistan, on December 1, 2018 at the 2018 CAFA Women's Championship

2021 Taliban takeover and disbandment Following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021, the national team players were evacuated out of the country. The Taliban has banned women's sports in the country including football. Coordinating with authorities from six countries, captain Khalida Popal and FIFPro facilitated the evacuation of the players and their families.

The AFF now has refused to recognize a women's national team; either consisting of diaspora or local players.

Players' exile and formation of Afghan Women United

The national team players in exile have played together. Australia-based players organized as Melbourne Victory FC AWT and joined Football Victoria in March 2022. In May 2022, an Afghan development side played a friendly against non-FIFA team Surrey in Dorking.

In 2023, Afghanistan was originally included in Asian qualifying tournament for Women's football in 2024 Summer Olympics, but they forced to withdrew from the tournament as Afghanistan Football Federation did not plan to organize women's national team.

There has been also campaign for Afghan women for FIFA to allow them to play as a national team independent from the AFF. In May 2025, FIFA sanctioned the creation of a Afghanistan women's refugee team under a one-year pilot-run basis. The Pauline Hamill-coached team later dubbed as Afghan Women United is still not recognized as formal national team by FIFA but played in the FIFA Unites: Women's Series friendly tournament against the Chad, Tunisia, and Libya national teams held in October to November 2025 in Morocco.

In April 2026, FIFA and AFC announced that Afghan Women United would be eligible to represent Afghanistan for official matches.

Results

Coaching history Name Period Matches Wins Draws Losses Winning % Abdul Saboor Walizada 2010–2013 10 3 2 5 % Faqir Zada 2014 3 0 0 3 % Amin Amini 2015 0 0 0 0 % Kelly Lindsey 2016–2017 2 0 0 2 % Ali Jawad Ataiee 2018–2021 6 0 0 6 %

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup FIFA Women's World Cup recordQualification record Year Round Position 1991 to 2007 Did not exist Did not exist 2011 to 2019 Did not enter Did not enter Withdrew from qualification Via AFC Women's Asian Cup 2027 Did not enter Did not enter Total — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Summer Olympics Summer Olympics record Qualification record Year Round Position 1996 to 2008 Did not exist Did not exist 2012 to 2020 Did not enter Did not enter 2024 Withdrew from qualification Withdrew 2028 Did not enter Did not enter Total — — — — — — — — — — — — —

AFC Women's Asian Cup AFC Women's Asian Cup record Qualification record Year Round Position 1975 to 2010 Did not exist Did not exist 2014 to 2018 Did not enter Did not enter 2022 Withdrew from qualification Withdrew 2026 Did not enter Did not enter Total — — — — — — — — — — — — —

CAFA Women's Championship CAFA Women's Championship recordYearResult 2018Group stage4004032−32 2022Did not enterTotal1/24004032−32

*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

SAFF Women's Championship SAFF Women's Championship recordYearResult 2010Group stage3012218−16 2012Semi-final4112619−13 2014Group stage3003119−18 2016Group stage2002111−10 2019Did not enter 2022 2024 2026Total4/7121291067−57

*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Head-to-head record Opponent Confederation2002112−130AFC3003128−270AFC100106−60AFC2002011−110AFC100102−20UEFA210111050AFC302134−10AFC2002120−190AFC210143+150AFC110020+2100AFC100105−50AFC1001020−200AFC Total 21 3 2 16 13 112 −99 —

Afghanistan women's national football team

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