Afghanistan’s women’s football team are fighting to play

Four years ago, Fatima Yousufi was playing football with her teammates in Kabul, passing along instructions and encouragement from the goal line. At just 19 years old she was the captain of Afghanistan’s national women’s team and their goalkeeper. It had always been her dream to represent her country on the football pitch, which started the first time she kicked a ball at school, and now her team were preparing to compete in the qualifiers for the AFC Women’s Asia Cup, due to start in September 2021. 

If they managed to get through the tournament, they could even qualify for the Women’s World Cup. It would be a huge achievement for this young team, which formed in 2007 after a campaign by Afghan women who loved football but were forced to play on the men’s teams – some even disguising themselves as men to avoid criticism from their community – as no women’s teams existed in the country. 

But despite their success and growth over the past decade or so, the situation was getting tougher – not just because of the upcoming competition, but because the Taliban was, day by day, moving in on their city. Meanwhile, US and UK troops were preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan. In the months before, there had been explosions around the football federation’s grounds where they were training, and yet still they played. They had games to win. 

Despite the increasing pressure, she recalls how much fun the team had together. ​“They almost became my family – I’m always calling them my second family,” she says. ​“I forgot everything about the hardship [in the country], about the security situation, and we just kept training so hard.”

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But the team never got to compete in the qualifiers. On August 15, 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul and took control of Afghanistan. ​“It happened in the blink of an eye,” says Yousufi. ​“That day, when I heard about Kabul and saw the news, in my head [I was thinking] everything was over. Especially for myself, the football, the person that I was – it was over,” she says. As well-known athletes, the team were in danger of being arrested – or even killed. They, along with many other Afghans who feared for their lives, were forced to flee their country. Scenes of chaos at Kabul airport were broadcasted around the world, as crowds of desperate Afghans attempted to get on the final flights out, with some even clinging to moving aircraft and falling to their deaths as planes took off.

Since their return to power, the de-facto Taliban government has systematically worked to erase women from taking part in society, with over 80 edicts severely restricting their rights. These include banning girls over 12 from attending school, barring women from playing sport and nearly all forms of employment, and even from speaking in public. Activists are calling it gender apartheid. In July, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two of the Taliban’s top leaders for gender persecution, which is a crime against humanity.

Now 23, Yousufi is living in Melbourne, Australia, where she has escaped to, along with the rest of her team after the country offered them refuge. Ever since arriving, they have been campaigning for official recognition from FIFA, the international governing body of association football, to allow them to continue representing their country on the pitch. 

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FIFA have so far refused. They have said it is the responsibility of the member association, the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) to recognise them – but the AFF is controlled by the Taliban and have refused to do so. In May, FIFA announced a new pilot project to support the creation of an Afghan women’s refugee team, which will enable selected Afghan players to compete in international friendlies, but not official, competitive matches. Despite still not recognising the national squad, Yousufi believes the initiative is ​“a big step” worth celebrating – and she hopes it will lead to full national status soon. 

The players say that it is their right to have this recognition, which is even more important now given that the Taliban have taken away Afghan women’s rights and freedoms. ​“We need to get that power out of the Taliban’s hands,” says Yousufi. ​“Even though we are far away from Afghanistan and not under [direct] control of the Taliban, it’s like they’re still controlling us.”

By not giving them this recognition, the AFF is violating a key obligation under FIFA’s Statutes, which prohibits gender discrimination. Violations of these obligations can result in member associations facing sanctions – yet no action has been taken by FIFA against the AFF. After being contacted for comment by Huck, a spokesperson for FIFA said: ​“Following the decision by the FIFA Council in May 2025, FIFA is in the process of implementing a comprehensive and dedicated Strategy for Action to support Afghan women both inside and outside the country.

“This wide-ranging and landmark strategy is a significant step forward — in football and for other sports — and includes three clear pillars,” they continued. ​“In particular, this dedicated strategy developed by FIFA aims to explore projects together with in-country humanitarian organisations that support the well-being of women and girls in Afghanistan, further progress diplomatic dialogue together with local and international organisations and promote more opportunities for women and girls based outside of the country to play football, including through the creation of the Afghan women’s refugee team.

​”More broadly, FIFA continues to take the challenges faced by Afghan women and girls – both those who remain in Afghanistan and those who have been evacuated – very seriously.”

The team’s campaign for recognition in exile has garnered support from across the world, including from Pakistani female education activist Malala Yousafzai, and over 180,000 people who signed their petition. Yousufi says that she previously felt disappointed when they weren’t getting any response from FIFA, but the official recognition of the refugee team has given her hope. ​“It’s very, very hard to just keep going, and to not see any changes happening. The spark that I lost before – maybe I think that it’s coming back a little bit,” she says, smiling. 

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She hopes she can be a part of the new refugee team as their goalkeeper, but that depends on whether she is selected. The trials for the team began at the end of July in Sydney, the first of three worldwide talent identification camps, under the watch of Scottish manager Pauline Hamill. 

According to FIFA, the pilot project will last a year and will include tailored support for the selected Afghan refugee players, such as providing equipment and access to counselling, as well as identifying potential educational pathways and opportunities within football. There are hopes the project could be expanded to include other refugees around the world.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement earlier this year that FIFA ​“stands firmly with Afghan women – at home and in exile – and remains committed to creating safe, inclusive spaces where they can pursue their football dreams”.

Khalida Popal, one of the founding players of the Afghanistan national women’s team and now its director, was involved in the discussions with FIFA. ​“It’s a fantastic milestone, and I want to congratulate and give full credit, not to FIFA, but to our players for not giving up,” she says. ​“They really didn’t take the time to deal with their traumas and losses [after fleeing Afghanistan], but continuously, for four years, have been advocating for their human right – their right to play.” She says the team still needs a response from FIFA on official recognition and they will not stop fighting for it, even ​“if it takes 10 years”.

• Read next: An Afghan student on the horror of the Taliban takeover

Recognition for the team is about more than just playing football. ​“It’s not only about us representing Afghanistan, to wear the jersey, to have the same freedom we had – it’s beyond that,” says Yousufi. ​“It’s about all those girls – young, old, all of those women who are in Afghanistan. The biggest mission for our team is to be a voice for them.”

Popal, who lives in Denmark after leaving Afghanistan in 2011 because of death threats, says she receives messages daily ​“not only from women, but also from young men saying how difficult it is to actually live in Afghanistan, because there is nothing for them”. She adds that life for Afghan women is like being in an ​“open prison”.

“[The Taliban are] killing the dreams of girls,” says Yousufi. ​“For me, thinking back to when I was young, every day that I was going to school I was just dreaming about becoming someone. Like one day, ​‘I’m going to become a teacher,’ and the next day, ​‘I’m going to be a doctor.’”

Now Yousufi’s dream, like that of her teammates, is to see Afghanistan’s national women’s team one day play at the World Cup. ​“That day will be remarkable,” she says. ​“I don’t know if I’m going to be there [playing] or not, but I’m definitely going to be there to cheer them on and celebrate and just enjoy seeing my team play.” 

Jessie Williams is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Instagram.

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