Afghan Women United
| Short name | Afghanistan | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | May 2025 | ||
| Coach | Pauline Hamill | ||
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Afghan Women United is a women's football selection team sanctioned by FIFA which represents the Afghan diaspora.
The team was formed following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 and the subsequent abolishment of the official women's national team by the Afghanistan Football Federation.
Despite being formed under the auspices of FIFA, Afghan Women United is not recognized as a national team and is ineligible to participate in official national team tournaments.[1]
History
2021 exodus
Tha Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) organized a women's national football team during the Islamic Republic era. That national team played their last official match, a 0–5 loss to Tajikistan, on 1 December 2018 at the 2018 CAFA Women's Championship[2]
However following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021, the national team players were evacuated out of the country.[3] The Taliban has banned women's sports in the country including football.[4]
In March 2022, the exiled national team was admitted into Football Victoria in Australia as Melbourne Victory FC AWT.[5][6] In May 2022, an Afghan development side played a friendly against non-FIFA team Surrey in Dorking, England.[7][8]
The Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) has refused to recognize a women's national team; either consisting of diaspora or local players. Nevertheless, Afghan women has urged FIFA to allow them to play as a national team independent from the AFF.[9][10]
Formation
In May 2025, FIFA sanctioned the creation of a Afghanistan women's refugee team which would be allowed to compete in official tournaments. The program was due to run for one year under a pilot phase.[11][12] Pauline Hamill was appointed as head coach and was tasked to hold three identification camps prior to playing FIFA-approved friendlies in late 2025.[13] Reportedly they were still unable to compete in international competitions.[14][15]
FIFA Unites: Women's Series
The Afghanistan refugee team, also known as Afghan Women United, made their debut in the four-nation "FIFA Unites: Women's Series" friendly tournament, originally scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates.[16] However, the UAE refused to issue visas to the Afghan players and the tournament was moved to Morocco.[17][18]They played against Chad, Tunisia, and Libya and finished as third placers.[1][19]
Results and fixtures
2025
| 26 October 2025 FIFA Unites: Women's Series | Afghan Women United | 1–6 | Chad | Berrechid, Morocco |
| 17:00 UTC+1 |
|
Stadium: Berrechid Municipal Stadium |
| 29 October 2025 FIFA Unites: Women's Series | Tunisia | 4–0 | Afghan Women United | Berrechid, Morocco |
| 20:00 UTC+1 |
|
Stadium: Berrechid Municipal Stadium |
| 1 November 2025 FIFA Unites: Women's Series | Libya | 0–7 | Afghan Women United | Berrechid, Morocco |
| 17:00 UTC+1 | Stadium: Berrechid Municipal Stadium |
Players
The following 23 players were named to the squad for the FIFA-sanctioned four-team tournament in Morocco from 26 October to 1 November 2025.[20]
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Coaching history
| Name | Period | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pauline Hamill | 2025– | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33.33% |
Honours
- FIFA Unites Women's Series
- Third Place: 2025[19]
See also
- Afghan Women's XI, an Afghan refugee cricket team
- Defection of Iran women's national football team
References
- ^ a b "Afghan women's football team's international comeback defies Taliban ban". ABC News. 22 November 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ Anderson, Jason. "Afghan refugee team to play in FIFA Unites Women's Series soccer tournament". USA Today. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Afghanistan: the national women's football team that isn't". Deutsche Welle. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ "Afghanistan women's team representing a country that doesn't recognise them". BBC Sport. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ Lynch, Joey (18 March 2022). "Afghanistan Women's National Team to play in Victorian leagues". ESPN. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "Fixture For Women's State League 4 West – GameDay". GameDay. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ "Kim Kardashian and Leeds United help Afghan junior women's football team arrive in UK after escaping Taliban". Sky Sports. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ Frith, Will (22 May 2022). "Afghanistan Women's Development team to play in Surrey". SheKicks. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ "Exiled Afghanistan women's national team say FIFA's rules hinder participation after Taliban's return to power". CBS Sports. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Afghanistan women's team in exile wants FIFA recognition". ESPN.com. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ Millar, Colin (9 May 2025). "FIFA sanctions creation of Afghanistan women's refugee team". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "FIFA OKs creation of Afghanistan women's refugee team". 10 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "FIFA announces first coach of Afghan women's refugee team". ABC News. 25 July 2025. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ "Afghanistan's women's football team are fighting to play". Huck. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- ^ Davies, Amanda; Araujo, Madalena (2 October 2025). "As Afghan women's soccer squad is announced, players' fight for recognition goes on". CNN. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- ^ "FIFA to hold historic women's friendly series in United Arab Emirates". Inside FIFA. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ Pearson, Matt (20 October 2025). "Football: Afghanistan women in limbo, FIFA games in doubt". dw.com. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
- ^ Pearson, Matt (20 October 2025). "Football: Afghanistan women's late FIFA return in Morocco". dw.com. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
- ^ a b "Triumphant conclusion to the FIFA Unites: Women's Series 2025 includes trophy for Chad, first win for Afghan Women United". Inside FIFA. FIFA. 2 November 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Afghan women's refugee team inaugural squad announced ahead of historic friendly competition". inside.fifa.com. Zürich: FIFA. 1 October 2025. Retrieved 1 October 2025.