The Afghanistan national football team is the national football team of Afghanistan and is controlled by the Afghanistan Football Federation. Founded in 1922, they played their first international game against Iran in Kabul, 1941. Afghanistan then joined FIFA in 1948 and the AFC in 1954, as one of the founding members. They play their home games at the Ghazi National Olympic Stadium in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. In 2013, Afghanistan won the 2013 SAFF Championship and earned the "FIFA Fair Play Award". Afghanistan has never qualified for the AFC Asian Cup.
The Afghanistan men's national cricket team represents Afghanistan in international cricket. Cricket has been played in Afghanistan since the mid-19th century, but it was only in the early 21st century that the national team began to enjoy success. The Afghanistan Cricket Board was formed in 1995 and became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001 and a member of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 2003. After nearly a decade of playing international cricket, on 22 June 2017, at an ICC meeting in London, full ICC Membership was granted to Afghanistan. Alongside Ireland, this took the number of Test cricket playing nations to twelve. It is the first country to ever achieve Full Member status after holding Affiliate Membership of the ICC.
Paykan Football Club is a football team based in Tehran, Iran. The team is sponsored by Iran's main automobile manufacturer Iran Khodro and is named after one of its older products; the Paykan car. Paykan F.C. is the football club of the multisport Paykan Sport Club which also includes Basketball and volleyball teams.
Sir Igor Štimac is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of the India national team.
Ali Askar Lali is an Afghan former football player and trainer. In 1981, he moved to Germany as a refugee and lived many years in Paderborn. He now lives in Germany and Afghanistan. He is now the assistant manager of the Afghanistan national football team.
Datuk James Wong is a former Malaysian footballer who is a striker for Malaysian national football team and Sabah. He also played as a goalkeeper for the Malaysia youth team in the 1971 AFC Youth Championship. He was known as King James by the local fans.
Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai, is a former Afghan cricketer and former captain of the Afghanistan national cricket team. Asghar is a right-handed batsman and a medium-fast bowler. In May 2018, he was named as the captain of Afghanistan, for their inaugural Test match, played against India. He made his Test debut for Afghanistan, against India, on 14 June 2018. On 2 August 2018, he changed his last name from Stanikzai to Afghan.
The Afghanistan women's national football team was the women's national team of Afghanistan until the fall of Kabul in 2021. They played under the authority the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF).
Mustafa Hadid is an Afghan former footballer who played as a right-back or forward.
Petar Šegrt is a Croatian football coach and former player. He is the Head coach of the Tajikistan national team.
Zubayr Amiri is an Afghan professional footballer who plays for SC Hessen Dreieich and the Afghanistan national team. Amiri operates in midfield, and can also play in a more attacking role; considered a versatile player because he is proficient with both feet. He has previously played for Viktoria Aschaffenburg and Eintracht Frankfurt II.
Faysal Shayesteh is an Afghan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for I-League club Sreenidi Deccan and the Afghanistan national team.
Zamir Daudi is an Afghan footballer who plays as a defender who is currently playing for Viktoria Aschaffenburg.
Omid Popalzay is an Afghan footballer who plays as a midfielder for Lebanese Premier League club Nejmeh and the Afghanistan national team.
Qamaruddin Maziar Kouhyar is an Afghan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League club York City and the Afghanistan national team. He is the first Afghan to play professionally in Great Britain.
Fareed Sadat is an Afghan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Thai League 2 club Nakhon Si United and the Afghanistan national team.
Ali Benjamin Nadjem is a footballer who plays as a right-back. Born in Afghanistan and raised in Germany, he has represented the Afghanistan national team at international level.
Rahmat Akbari is an ethnic Hazara professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Georgian Erovnuli Liga club Torpedo Kutaisi. Born in Jaghori, Afghanistan, he has represented Australia at youth level.
The AIRMARINE Cup 2019 is the first edition of the AIRMARINE Cup, an international football tournament with four countries participating. It is played on 20 and 23 March 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ananth S. Nathan, Executive Chairman of AIRMARINE (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. takes the tournament as a national social responsibility of a corporate entity to step forward for the Malaysian national football team to gain more international break for the exposure and to advance in their FIFA ranking points.
Sreenidi Deccan FC is an Indian professional football club based in Hyderabad, Telangana. It was established on 1 January 2015 as a football academy in Hyderabad, and later was launched from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, in 2021. The club is currently competing in I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system.
