In a landmark decision that has been widely hailed as a victory for athlete rights and gender equity, global football governing body Fifa has formally approved the return of Afghanistan’s women’s national football team to official international competition, opening a new chapter for hundreds of displaced Afghan female players who have been barred from the sport since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Afghanistan’s women’s team has not competed in an official international fixture since December 2018. Following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, the group implemented sweeping restrictions on women’s public life, including a total ban on women’s sports participation. This forced dozens of elite Afghan female footballers to flee the country and seek asylum across Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East.
Prior to the recent vote, Fifa’s internal governance rules barred the organization from officially recognizing a national team that was not endorsed by its local member association — in this case, the Afghanistan Football Federation, which operates under the Taliban-led government’s restrictions. But at a Fifa council meeting held in Vancouver on Tuesday, members approved a key amendment to these regulations. The change allows Fifa to register national or representative teams “under exceptional circumstances”, ensuring that no group of players is locked out of international football due to situations outside of their control.
This regulatory shift means Afghan female players will now be able to formally represent their country in official Fifa-sanctioned matches with full international recognition. Former Afghanistan women’s national team captain Khalida Popal, who has led lobbying efforts for the team’s reinstatement, says the squad will stand as a global “symbol of resilience” for women trapped under restrictive rule inside Afghanistan.
“Our team has always been known as an activist team,” Popal told reporters. “But this opportunity, with the right support from Fifa, will be the time for us to also show some skills and develop the youth talent in the diaspora. I know it’s going to be tough because Afghan women inside Afghanistan will struggle to be part of that. But if we can still be the voice for them to send out hope messages and show them our support that you are not forgotten, then we will continue to use our platform.”
Fifa’s formal approval builds on the successful 2025 launch of Afghan Women United, a refugee-backed squad that the organization approved for a one-year pilot program back in May 2025, after years of advocacy from displaced Afghan players. The team already competed in three friendly matches as part of the Fifa United Women’s Series in Morocco between October and November 2025, notching their first ever win against Libya in November.
While the team will not be eligible to compete for a spot in the 2027 Women’s World Cup, they are cleared to enter qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games, and are scheduled to return to formal competitive action as early as June 2026. Right now, more than 80 Afghan female footballers are based across host countries, including 25 players who held national team contracts before the 2021 Taliban takeover. Fifa is currently hosting regional selection camps in England and Australia, to be followed by a centralized training camp in New Zealand in June ahead of the team’s first official fixture.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino praised the decision in remarks following the council vote, saying: “We are proud of the beautiful journey initiated by Afghan Women United and, with this initiative, we aim to enable them, as well as other Fifa member associations that may not be able to register a national or representative team for a Fifa competition, to make the next step.”