After years of fleeing, fighting, advocating and training, Afghanistan’s women have won the right to compete for football’s biggest prizes as their country’s official national team.

An unprecedented decision made by world football’s governing body, FIFA, in Toronto on Tuesday paves the way for the current squad to try to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and then future World Cups and Asian Cups.

It is another huge step for a team who have had to fight for their right to play, with the Taliban-run football association refusing to sanction an Afghanistan national women’s team.

“It’s something really huge for us, to show the world that Afghan women and girls are capable of doing amazing things,” national team goalkeeper Elaha Safdari told DW.  “It’s a hard slap to the face of the Taliban and those people who were against us.

“We are just showing that we are capable of doing amazing things through sports. And of course, we are still raising our voice for all the voiceless who are back home.”

Afghan example may open the door for others

Safdari was one of the Afghanistan Women’s United squad who took part in a small tournament called ‘FIFA Unites Women’s Series’ in Morocco in 2025. The squad are made up of refugees who now live mostly in Australia and Europe and have faced a host of logistical and political challenges. They will likely form the bulk of the new national team.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the amendment made at the organization’s Council was “momentous.” He said it meant FIFA can now “approve the registration of a national or representative team under exceptional circumstances where a Member Association is unable to do so.”

“This is a powerful and unprecedented step in world sport,” he added. “FIFA has listened to these players as part of its responsibility to protect the right of every girl and woman to play football and to represent who they are.”

Infantino also pointed to his organization’s ‘Strategy  for Action for Afghan Women’s Football, approved in 2025, as a key driver of the change. 

Andrea Florence, the Executive Director of the Sport and Rights Alliance advocacy group, pointed out that the precedent set by this amendment “demonstrates that governing bodies can adapt their rules to protect human rights when extraordinary circumstances demand it.”

This will likely open the door for other national teams, often women’s ones, who are denied the opportunity to play by their federations.

Big moment in Afghanistan and in exile

Khalida Popal, the former Afghanistan captain, who has become a figurehead for the new generation, sat next to Infantino when the news was announced as the current squad watched together online elsewhere.

“It means so much. The whole situation that Afghanistan women have is very emotional,” she said. “This is our moment, this is our time and football is our voice and our platform.”

For Safdari and her teammates, this is a chance to look ahead and build on the momentum and team spirit forged at the tournament in Morocco, in which the Afghans were not recognized as a full national team.

“Our situation is quite different from other teams but I feel like that’s a big strength for us,” Safdari said. “We’ve been training hard, we’ve been aiming for this, and it’s a new hope for us. It shows our resilience and it just shows that if we work hard, we can definitely achieve [our goals].”

Fight not over until Taliban are out

But with the brutal repression of women continuing back home, Safdari and the other players know that their fight is not fully won while the Taliban remain in power. Nevertheless, Safdari and the rest of the squad enjoy a rare platform as Afghan women international athletes. Now that their stage is even greater, they remain determined to shout from it for those back home.

“First of all I [thought of] my parents, who are still back home. They’ve already heard the news and are just proud of how far that I came personally. It’s really something for me to play for my country and make my people, my family and my parents proud.

“Of course, I’ve heard so many good things from friends and the people who are still back home. And we’ve seen how they were supporting us through this news on social media.”

The squad, who are funded and supported by FIFA during international breaks, are set to get together in New Zealand for their first matches since the games in Morocco last October. They will play a match against the Cook Islands as part of an eight-day training camp before Olympic qualifiers are set to start, likely later this year. That will be followed, eventually, by World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers and all sorts of other opportunities afforded to them by their new status.

“It sounds really great [to hear Afghanistan can compete in those tournaments] and I still cannot believe it that we are finally official and we can play qualifiers,” Safdari said.

With the team having barely been in the same country, let alone played together in recent years, there is plenty of work to do to catch up. But for players like Safdari who have had to forge new lives in foreign lands at a young age while fighting for their right to play football, that is not a daunting proposition.

Edited by: Janek Speight

WWE hosted the biggest event of the year in Las Vegas, and the company is now focused on introducing new stars on all three brands. Recently, EVIL made his debut for the company and broke his silence on X.

There have been times when superstars hone their craft on the independent circuit or train for years in Japan before signing with the Stamford-based promotion. From AJ Styles to Talla Tonga, notable names have had runs in the Land of the Rising Sun before joining WWE. On the recent edition of WWE NXT, EVIL made his debut for the company.

The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion interrupted Tony D’Angelo with a warning and left the ring. Later, the champion was attacked by Tavion Heights and Will Kroos. Later, the 39-year-old star broke silence on social media when he retweeted his debut with a message.

“I’ve Arrived. #WWENXT,” EVIL’s tweet on X.

During the show, the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion wasn’t addressed mysteriously, but without a proper in-ring name. The company has a trademark filed, which could be for the 39-year-old star, but only time will tell.

Why is EVIL on WWE NXT?

In the past, superstars have joined the developmental brand and had a run under Triple H’s creative leadership before they moved to the main roster. Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, and more have had prior experience in wrestling, but started from the black and yellow brand.

There have been exceptions to this rule when AJ Styles debuted for the company at the Royal Rumble in 2016. Over the past few years, top names from Japan have joined the company under the new regime and made it to the main roster without a run on the developmental brand.

Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga joined Friday Night SmackDown. According to Bodyslam, the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, EVIL, wanted to start from the developmental brand instead of starting on the main roster.

The 39-year-old star wants to get accustomed to the wrestling scene in the United States, which is why he’s starting with NXT. As for his name, a new report suggests the management is still trying to figure it out. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for EVIL in the Stamford-based promotion.