Afghanistan women's national football team

The Afghanistan women's national football team (Dari: تیم ملی فوتبال زنان افغانستان) was 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.

In May 2025, FIFA sanctioned the creation of an Afghan women's refugee team later named Afghan Women United to represent the Afghan diaspora.

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]

The national team played their last official match was the 0–5 lost to Tajikistan on December 1, 2018 at the 2018 CAFA Women's Championship^[15]

Following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021, the national team players were evacuated out of the country.^[16] The Taliban has banned women's sports in the country including football.^[17] Coordinating with authorities from six countries, captain Khalida Popal and FIFPro facilitated the evacuation of the players and their families.^[18][19][20]

The AFF now has refused to recognize a women's national team; either consisting of diaspora or local players.^[21][22]

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.^[23][24] In May 2022, an Afghan development side played a friendly against non-FIFA team Surrey in Dorking.^[25][26]

There has been also campaign for Afghan women for FIFA to allow them to play as a national team independent from the AFF.^[21][22] In May 2025, FIFA sanctioned the creation of a Afghanistan women's refugee team under a one-year pilot-run basis.^[27][28] 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.^[29][30]

*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

• Afghanistan men's national football team
• Sport in Afghanistan
  • Football in Afghanistan
    • Women's football in Afghanistan

• Afghanistan women's national football team on Twitter