{"id":221,"date":"2025-10-27T12:04:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=221"},"modified":"2025-10-27T12:04:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:04:32","slug":"afghan-womens-football-returns-to-international-stage-in-fifa-tournament-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=221","title":{"rendered":"Afghan women\u2019s football returns to international stage in FIFA tournament | Football News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Afghanistan women\u2019s refugee team played their first match in a FIFA-organised four-team friendly competition in Morocco.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 27 Oct 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">27 Oct 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>An Afghan women\u2019s refugee team lost 6-1 to Chad in a FIFA-organised tournament in Morocco on Sunday, but, for the players, the match itself represented a victory after being denied the chance to play the sport they love back home.<\/p>\n<p>Women\u2019s sport has been banned in Afghanistan since the Taliban government took over in 2021, prompting players to flee the country, fearing persecution.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Prior to the Taliban\u2019s takeover, Afghanistan had 25 women players under contract, most of whom now live in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>The women\u2019s national team last played an international match in 2021, losing 5-0 to Qatar, but, in May, the world football governing body approved the creation of an Afghan women\u2019s refugee team, with Pauline Hamill named as coach.<\/p>\n<p>The team chose \u201cAfghan Women United\u201d as their official name following consultations with FIFA, before their loss to Chad, their first match of the four-team FIFA Unites: Women\u2019s Series tournament, which also features Tunisia and Libya.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s all we wanted all these years after trying so hard to get what we truly deserve as a woman. Our right to play and to represent our country,\u201d Captain Fatima Haidari said in the lead-up to the match.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are profoundly grateful that FIFA gave us this opportunity and this privilege to represent what women are capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4063533\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4063533\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4063533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2243428437-1761559618.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C499&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Mansooh Noori and Dallou Fatime in action.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4063533\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mansooh Noori, right, of Afghan Women United is challenged by Dallou Fatime of Chad during the FIFA Unites: Women\u2019s Series 2025 match between Afghan Women United and Chad [Mahmoud Khaled\/FIFA via Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"first-fixture-in-four-years\">First fixture in four years<\/h2>\n<p>Afghan Women United opened the scoring through Melbourne-based striker Manozh Noori\u2019s penalty on Sunday, prompting wild celebrations among her teammates and on the sidelines.<\/p>\n<p>But Chad, who played their first match in 2019 and competed in qualifying for the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, recovered quickly and went on to record the comfortable win in Berrechid, 40km (25 miles) from Casablanca.<\/p>\n<p>Afghan Women United\u2019s next game is against Tunisia on Wednesday, before they take on Libya on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The tournament was scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but was moved to Morocco last week after the Afghanistan team were denied entry to the Gulf nation.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4063539\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4063539\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4063539\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2243428563-1761559748.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C506&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Afghanistan women's team react after goal.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4063539\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Noori, third from left, of Afghan Women United celebrates scoring her team\u2019s first goal with teammates during the match [Mahmoud Khaled\/FIFA via Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Afghanistan women\u2019s refugee team played their first match in a FIFA-organised four-team friendly competition in Morocco. Published On 27 Oct 202527 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share An Afghan women\u2019s refugee team lost 6-1 to Chad in a FIFA-organised tournament in Morocco on Sunday, but, for the players, the match [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}