FIFA has announced plans to create a women’s football team made up of Afghan refugees living outside Afghanistan. The team will take part in friendly matches, but it will not be recognized as Afghanistan’s official national team and will not compete in Women’s World Cup qualifiers or the AFC Women’s Championship.
The move comes as Afghan women have been effectively barred from all sports inside the country since 2021, when the Taliban returned to power. The national women’s team last played an official competitive match in 2018.
FIFA says its Council has approved a new strategy to support Afghan women’s football, which includes forming a squad under the name Afghanistan Women’s Refugee Team. According to FIFA’s statement, the organization is in direct talks with the players concerned and aims to begin the team’s activities as soon as possible.
Although the Afghanistan Football Federation is obligated under FIFA statutes to support women’s sports and oppose any form of discrimination, it has not fulfilled these commitments—and has not been suspended by FIFA.
Despite this initiative, many exiled Afghan players continue to call for full recognition and the chance to compete internationally as Afghanistan’s official national team. That demand has not yet been met, but some observers believe the creation of a refugee team could be a first step toward bringing Afghan women back to the global football stage.
