Fatima Yousufi escaped the Taliban, arriving in Australia with a backpack and a burning ambition to play international football. Through determination and courage, and with family support, Yousufi and others like Mona Amini had been able to study and play football for clubs and for the Afghanistan women's team. However, when the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they shut down all women's sports, forcing the players into hiding.
After a frantic evacuation, 13 of the players settled in Australia, where for five years they lived, played, and trained in the hope of once again representing their country. Although the Afghanistan football federation does not recognize the women's team, in April, FIFA granted the Afghan women's team eligibility for international competition. This week, 23 members of the Afghan Women United program are in a training camp in Auckland, New Zealand, and will play games against a team from the Cook Islands.
Milestone Recognition
Mona Amini, a midfielder, described the news as a special day. "It was a special day that we heard that Afghanistan can represent again our flag in international tournaments," she told The Associated Press. "This is the result of hard work that we did in the past four or five years." Seven months ago, the Afghan women played in the so-called 'Unite' tournament, achieving a win over Libya. "It was a very special moment because we played in an international friendly tournament, and after three years we heard our anthem," Amini added.
A Better Future
FIFA's subsequent recognition was another important milestone on a long and perilous journey. Yousufi, a Melbourne-based goalkeeper, recalled her reaction vividly. "We're going to have the national team! That's the greatest thing ever that could have happened to the team," she said. "It was super important to us, especially thinking of the time when we arrived in Australia and we had lost everything: family, our childhood memories, and that national team." Yousufi left home with one backpack, "to be safe and to continue to be alive." She added, "When we came here, the most important part of our life was to be a football player and to be a football team. When we saw we could not be (officially) a national team and we could not represent our country ... it was like I lost the game."
While many ended up in Australia, other Afghan players are spread across Europe and some in the United States. Coach Pauline Hamill holds talent identification camps and helps pull the squad together for games. Memories of their darkest days remain a strong part of the team's motivation to succeed and to represent women and girls still in their homeland. The Afghan women's team played its last official competitive match in 2018.
Challenges and Resilience
Amini described the difficulties before the Taliban's return: "We couldn't play freely in Afghanistan. Going out from home was tough because there was the risk of the Taliban seeing us and finding that we were playing football. It was a very tough time, and I'm pretty sure every one of the girls, every single one of us, fought hard to create this team, and we are very happy right now to stay with each other."
Yousufi, a student and athlete, noted that even before the Taliban returned, it was challenging "for a girl to play football in Afghanistan with such difficulties as family barriers and difficulties of the society to accept a woman in sport." She recalled, "We were thinking of any other outcomes like the danger we were facing, everyday dangers in Afghanistan like bomb explosions. Considering all those things — and it was the same for the other girls — we took all those risks to be part of the national team and to be a football player." Life became even more difficult after the Taliban takeover. "The only thing humans want is freedom, and the Taliban took our freedom," Amini said. "It is really difficult that you cannot educate, you cannot play sport, you cannot go outside, or you cannot do what you love ... (or) follow your dreams."
Role Models for the Future
Amini emphasized that the refugee players are now determined to represent all women and girls in Afghanistan. "We are here, and we are going to be trying our best to do something for them, to be the voice of them so that we could have a new generation for the future for the Afghanistan women's national team," she said. Yousufi added that she is among a group of players 'adopted by the Australian government,' and "we're now living our life and continuing our journey with football, with our education, and also being a voice for all those girls who are in Afghanistan." She concluded, "Our team might be the one to change the way the people think and also the way that things are happening toward the girls and women in Afghanistan. We're all trying our best to show that women and girls can be part of the society and can be someone who is in education or in sport, that women also have the right to do that."
