Afghanistan women's national football team

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.^{[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]

In 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”.^[15][16]

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^[17]

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.^[18] The Taliban has banned women's sports in the country including football.^[19] Coordinating with authorities from six countries, captain Khalida Popal and FIFPro facilitated the evacuation of the players and their families.^[20][21][22]

The AFF now has refused to recognize a women's national team; either consisting of diaspora or local players.^[23][24]

Aftermath and players' exile

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.^[25][26] In May 2022, an Afghan development side played a friendly against non-FIFA team Surrey in Dorking.^[27][28]

There has been also campaign for Afghan women for FIFA to allow them to play as a national team independent from the AFF.^[23][24] In May 2025, FIFA sanctioned the creation of a Afghanistan women's refugee team under a one-year pilot-run basis.^[29][30] 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.^[31][32] In April 2026, FIFA and AFC announced that Afghan Women United would be eligible to represent Afghanistan for official matches.^[33]

FIFA Women's World Cup

More information FIFA Women's World Cup record, Qualification record ...

FIFA Women's World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1991 to 2007	Did not exist									Did not exist
2011 to 2019	Did not enter									Did not enter
2023	Withdrew from qualification									Via AFC Women's Asian Cup
2027	Did not enter									Did not enter
2031	To be determined									To be determined
2035	To be determined									To be determined
Total	—	0/10	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—	—

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Summer Olympics

More information Summer Olympics record, Qualification record ...

Summer Olympics record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
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	—	0/8	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—	—

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AFC Women's Asian Cup

More information AFC Women's Asian Cup record, Qualification record ...

AFC Women's Asian Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
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	—	0/21	—	—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—	—

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CAFA Women's Championship

More information CAFA Women's Championship record, Year ...

CAFA Women's Championship record
Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	GD
2018	Group stage	4	0	0	4	0	32	−32
2022	Did not enter
Total	1/2	4	0	0	4	0	32	−32

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*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

SAFF Women's Championship

More information SAFF Women's Championship record, Year ...

SAFF Women's Championship record
Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA	GD
2010	Group stage	3	0	1	2	2	18	−16
2012	Semi-final	4	1	1	2	6	19	−13
2014	Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	19	−18
2016	Group stage	2	0	0	2	1	11	−10
Total	4/7	12	1	2	9	10	67	−57

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*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.