Afghanistan’s women: A national soccer team without a home
Afghan Women’s Football Team Builds a Future From Exile
Bdbusinessdaily.com – On the training fields of Bundesliga club Wolfsburg, Afghanistan’s women footballers are doing something they cannot do in their own country: playing the sport they love. The sessions are about more than drills, fitness and tactics. They offer a rare chance for a dispersed group of players to meet, form bonds and begin shaping a national side that must exist far from home.
In April, FIFA changed its regulations to allow Afghan women to represent Afghanistan again in official international fixtures and FIFA competitions. For players forced into exile after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the decision marked a long-awaited recognition of their place in the game.
“This was a huge victory for us, a wonderful moment, and one of the moments we're most proud of. Because once again, the women of our country have made history and brought about change,” Khalida Popal said.
Popal, a former Afghanistan captain and founder of the organization Girl Power, has spent years advocating for women’s football and the rights of Afghan women athletes. The FIFA ruling gives the team a formal path back into international competition, but it does not remove the obstacles created by exile and the continuing restrictions inside Afghanistan.
A national team with no home ground
Midfielder Maryam Karimi, who has lived in Portugal since leaving Afghanistan, described the recognition as a deeply meaningful step rather than a procedural change. She hopes the team’s future will eventually include matches on Afghan soil.
“I'm incredibly proud that we can now officially play as a national team,” Karimi said. “I hope that one day we'll be able to play in Afghanistan again with this team.”
For now, that possibility remains out of reach. The squad is spread across several countries, with players travelling from England, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Australia. Their shared identity is strong, but geography makes consistent training difficult. Camps such as the one in Wolfsburg are therefore essential opportunities to develop understanding on and off the field.
“We come from different countries and can't play together regularly. But when I see the players, they're incredibly united. They keep going and push each other forward,” Karimi said.
Popal believes the team may occupy a unique place in football history because it represents a country where it cannot currently host, train or build a regular women’s programme.
“We'll probably be one of the first national teams in history that has no home and no country in which to play,” Popal said. “We'll compete from exile and represent our country.”
Football as visibility and resistance
The immediate sporting aim is to create a competitive team capable of performing well internationally. Success on the pitch can bring visibility, attract support and ensure that Afghanistan’s women footballers are defined not only by exclusion and displacement, but by their ability and ambition.
“The first goal, of course, is to build a strong team that performs well on the field,” Popal said. “Because the better we play, the better we can represent our country, and the more visible we'll become.”
Yet the challenges go well beyond selecting a squad. Women are not permitted to play sports in Afghanistan while the Taliban remain in power. That means there is no stable domestic pathway for young players, no regular structure to nurture talent and no meaningful support from within the country. The Afghan Football Federation does not recognize the women’s team, despite FIFA’s decision to permit its international participation.
As a result, the foundations of the programme must be created abroad. The Afghan diaspora is central to that effort. The team is searching for players with Afghan heritage, including women who may not have played club football in Afghanistan but could be eligible to represent the country of their parents.
This approach makes the team both national and global. Its players carry Afghanistan’s colours while living in different societies, training in different systems and coming together whenever resources and travel allow. Building cohesion under those conditions requires sustained support, planning and regular access to high-level coaching.
Support beyond the training camp
The summer 2026 camp was held after an invitation from Volkswagen and Wolfsburg. Such backing provides a practical space for the players to train, but the longer-term task is larger: establishing durable structures that can support Afghan women footballers in exile and protect a future for the sport.
For Popal, the team’s existence also carries a clear message for women still living under restrictions in Afghanistan.
“It will be a team that stands up to the Taliban. Because the Taliban are erasing women from society,” Popal said. “We will play football to stand up for the women of our country. When the players take the field, they're also playing for those women in Afghanistan who aren't allowed to.”
Karimi sees the field as a platform for that same purpose. Each appearance can draw attention to women who have lost access to sport and many other public spaces.
“I can make my voice heard through the way I play football,” Karimi said. “I can make my voice heard from the field.”
Afghanistan’s women’s national team is still at the beginning of a difficult new chapter. It must recruit across borders, find training opportunities, develop as a footballing unit and compete without a home stadium. But its players have already reclaimed an official place in international football. Their progress will be measured in results, certainly, but also in their ability to remain visible, connected and determined while representing women whose voices cannot be heard as freely at home.
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