Afghanistan national football team

Afghanistan

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	شیران خراسان (The lions of Khorasan)
Association	Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF)
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	SAFF (South Asia)
Head coach	Mohammad Yousef Kargar
Most caps	Kohistani & Amiri (31)
Top scorer	Balal Arezou (7)
Home stadium	Ghazi Stadium
FIFA code	AFG
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	167
Highest	162 (July 2012)
Lowest	204 (January 2003)
First international
Afghanistan 0–0 Iran (Kabul, Afghanistan; 25 August 1941)
Biggest win
Bhutan 1–8 Afghanistan (New Delhi, India; 7 December 2011)
Biggest defeat
Turkmenistan 11–0 Afghanistan (Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; 19 November 2003)

The Afghanistan national football team (Persian: تیم ملی فوتبال افغانستان) also known as The Lions of Khorasan is the national team of Afghanistan and is controlled by the Afghanistan Football Federation. The national team was founded in 1922 and joined FIFA in 1948 and the AFC in 1954. Afghanistan was one of the founding members of the AFC. The Afghanistan national team plays its home games at the Ghazi National Olympic Stadium in Kabul.

Afghanistan's best performance in an international competition was in the 2011 SAFF Championship where they finished 2nd. Afghanistan played no international fixtures from 1984 to 2003 FIFA World Rankings. The game was not encouraged under the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001. The Afghan national team eventually returned to the international arena in 2002, when they played South Korea in the Asian Games, losing 2-0. Since their reemergence in the international football scene, they have since reached a peak of 162nd in 2012 in the FIFA World Rankings, and currently place 166th. At present, Afghanistan has a low level of participation in football due to lack of funds and security problems inside the country. Despite this, Afghanistan made it to the final match of SAFF Championship 2011 where they were eventually defeated by the hosts and title holders India in a match that was shadowed by the referee’s decision to give a penalty, and a red card, to the Afghan keeper. In the group stage, Afghanistan drew with India, and defeated Sri Lanka and Bhutan, and came out the winner in the semi-final against Nepal.

History

Early history

Football is the second most popular sport in Afghanistan. Formed in 1922 and affiliated to FIFA since 1948, the Afghanistan Football Federation was one of the founding members of Asian Football Confederation in 1954. The first football club established in the country, Mahmoudiyeh F.C., was founded in 1934. Three years later the team traveled to India and took part in 18 games of which they won 8, lost 9 and tied 1. The second football club founded was Ariana Kabul F.C. which was established in 1941. This team traveled to Tehran, Iran upon invitation, played 3 games, winning one game and losing two.

The country's first international match was played against Iran on 25 August 1941, the outcome of which was a draw, 0–0 in Ghazi Stadium, Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghanistan's only appearance in an Olympic Games football tournament was at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games when they played Luxembourg on 31 July 1948 and lost 6–0. Afghanistan was last seen on the international stage during 1984 Asian Cup Qualification. Afghanistan played no international games from 1984 to 2002, due to Soviet war in Afghanistan, Civil war in Afghanistan (1992–1996) and Taliban regime. The condition of the country under decades of war made it impossible to keep football going in a domestic level or international level in the country. Afghanistan's best performance in an international competition during the 1951 Asian Games when they finished 4th.

2000s, return of the national team to International ground

A football match between members of ISAF and Afghan National Army in 2009.

Following the demise of the Taliban regime, Afghanistan participated in their first international tournament in the 2003 SAFF Gold Cup where they lost all three group stage matches to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Later in the same year, Afghanistan took part in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification where they won against Kyrgyzstan but lost to Nepal and failed to make it to the next round. Afghanistan started its FIFA World Cup campaign for the first time in 2003 where they played Turkmenistan in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. They lost both matches in aggregate of 13–0. This was first time Afghanistan participated in FIFA World Cup qualification though they had been affiliated since 1948. Afghanistan lost a friendly match against Tajikistan in November 2005, after which the team went to Pakistan to take part in the 2005 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup, which they lost to the Maldives and Pakistan but won against Sri Lanka. Afghanistan also participated in the first edition of the AFC Challenge Cup in 2006, for which they drew both matches with Chinese Taipei and the Philippines with Afghan footballers Hafizullah Qadami and Sayed Maqsood Hashemi both scoring to produce a drawn result. Afghanistan on their second campaign of world cup in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification were eliminated by Syria. In the SAFF Championship 2008 Afghanistan lost to Bhutan but drew with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Afghanistan have never made it to the finals of the SAFF Championship since the beginning of their participation, but performed well to recover since the age of war that destroyed the country. Afghanistan entered the second round of the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008, by winning in group D of theAFC Challenge Cup Qualification, drawing with Bangladesh and winning against Kyrgyzstan. During the AFC Challenge Cup campaign, Afghanistan played two friendlies with Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan, drawing and winning their games respectively. In the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, Afghanistan lost all group matches to India, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Afghanistan in two International friendly match vs Nepal and Malaysia in 2008 was unable to come with a victory while they could managed to draw with Nepal while lost with a big difference to Malaysia. In 2009 SAFF Championship Afghanistan lost all its matches to Maldives, India and Nepal. Afghanistan played well against the defending champion India while Indians got their only goal to win at the last ten minutes of the match. The rest two matches Afghanistan could stop the Nepal and Maldives Players to win. Hashmatullah Barakzai scored only goal of Afghanistan against Maldives which they lost.In November 2010 Afghanistan Played an friendly against Tajikistan which the teams lost 1–0. till 2010 Afghanistan had tough chances to win over their opponents in any competition.

2011 – present, Age of Success

Players are celebrating after winning their 2011 SAFF Championship Semi Final against the tournaments highest ranked team Nepal. It also marked Afghanistan's first win over Nepal.

Afghanistan football finally came with lots of great performances on the start of 2011 when they beat Bhutan 5–0 in two 2010 AFC Challenge Cup Qualification. Afghanistan outplayed Bhutan 3–0 with the great performance of Sidiq Walizada who scored 3 goals and helped Afghanistan to win over Bhutan, and the second match also sent Afghanistan with a 2–0 victory to the Second round 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification. In second round of Qualification Afghanistan Played first match vs Nepal which resulted to loss of Afghanistan but came with only one win over Sri Lanka and lost the third match vs North Korea and failed to qualify to the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup.

Afghanistan played their third campaign of World Cup while they played against Palestine in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC). Afghanistan played its first match against Palestine in Tajikistan due to security reasons and lost the game, while they played second match against the same opponent in Palestine and drawn with the goal of Balal Arezou. Afghanistan failed to advance to the second round and was eliminated. Afghanistan have some players who play in Germany, Norway, Cyprus, USA and other European and American divisions and helped well in the recent performance of the national team.

Afghanistan's defender Djelaludin Sharityar and Sunil Chetri of India in action during their game in SAFF Championship 2011.

In 2011 SAFF Championship Afghanistan drawn its first match vs India the host and title defending nation with the goal of Balal Arezou in the starting five minutes of the match. Afghanistan with their unexpected performance went to win over Sri Lanka with two goals of Sandjar Ahmadi and one goal of Ata Yamrali. Crowds of Afghans witnessed the success of Afghanistan while they took on Bhutan and win 8–1, the biggest win ever in the history of Afghanistan football. Balal Arezou known as danger man by Indian Football experts, scored the only Hat-trick of the season with his 4 goals to win the match. Against Bhutan Afghanistan have shown some great performances with scoring the quickest goal of the tournament scored by Ata Yamrali at the third minute, best goal of the tournament scored by US based player Mohammad Mashriqi from zero angle. For the first time Afghanistan reached Semi Final of the tournament and faced Nepal whom they beat 1–0 at an Extra time with the only goal of Balal Arezou at the 101 minutes of the match. It was the first win of Afghanistan over Nepal and best match of the tournament. In the final Afghanistan played India the host and defending champion to whom they lost 4–0 after a controversial decision of referee who sent of Hamidullah Yosufzai the goalkeeper after he pushed Sukhbir Singh the referee. Afghanistan had the over all control of the match until the last 20 minutes when they lost their morality and after change of Goal keeper, the team went down and lost the game. Mohammad Yousef Kargar the national coach called referee a biased and supporter of the host. Over all Afghanistan have shown some great performances that shocked every other nation. After the match vs India, Kam Air Airlines awarded every player with cash $ 1,000 dollar and president Hamid Karzai appreciated their performance in the tournament.

Kit

In 2010 the Afghanistan Football Federation signed a 5 year contract with Danish sports brand Hummel to sponsor both the Men's and Women's team.

Afghanistan all time record against all nations

As of 07 ِثزثئذثق 2011

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Bangladesh	4	0	3	1	5	8	−3	0%
Bhutan	4	3	0	1	14	4	+10	75%
China	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6	0%
Chinese Taipei	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0%
Hong Kong	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	0%
India	5	0	1	4	1	12	−11	0%
Iran	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	0%
Iraq	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	0%
Japan	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0%
Jordan	1	0	0	1	1	6	−5	0%
Kyrgyzstan	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100%
Luxembourg	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6	0%
Malaysia	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6	0%
Maldives	2	0	0	2	2	12	−10	0%
North Korea	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0%
Nepal	5	1	1	3	2	10	−8	20%
Pakistan	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2	0%
Palestine	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2	0%
Philippines	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0%
Qatar	5	0	1	4	3	16	−10	0%
Saudi Arabia	2	0	0	2	0	8	−8	0%
Syria	2	0	0	2	1	5	−4	0%
South Korea	1	0	0	1	2	8	−6	0%
Sri Lanka	6	4	1	1	8	5	+3	80%
Tajikistan	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	0%
Turkmenistan	3	0	0	3	0	18	−18	0%
Total	59	8	11	40	41	166	−125

Home stadium

On December 15, the Afghan Olympic Committee celebrated the re-opening of the newly renovated Ghazi Stadium in Kabul. It was replaced by new grass and is a national pride.

Ghazi Stadium is home stadium of Afghanistan which is a multi-purpose stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was built during the reign of Amānullāh Khān in 1923, who was regarded as Ghazi (Hero) for winning the war with British and gaining independence of his nation. The stadium has a capacity of 25,000 people. First international match was played between Iran and Afghanistan in 1941 which was drawn 0–0. 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification second leg match was played against Turkmenistan to which Afghanistan lost 2–0 at home ground, earlier they lost to the same opponent 11–0. Ghazi Stadium was used more for executions and public works than sport during taliban regime. Post Taliban regime stadium is being maintained and controlled by Afghanistan Football Federation. Kabul Premier League and other local football tournaments take place in the stadium.

Results and fixtures

The following are Afghanistan's results and fixtures since 2010.

As of 8 December 2011

  Win   Draw   Loss

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Win/ Loss/ Draw	Goalscorer(s)	Captain	Competition
2010
1	17 November 2010	Dushanbe, Tajikistan	Tajikistan	0–1	L		Kohistani	International friendly
2	23 November 2010	Dushanbe, Tajikistan	TajikistanU23	1–0	W	Kohistani	Kohistani	International friendly
2011
3	23 March 2011	Gurgaon, India	Bhutan	3–0	W	Walizada 2', 36', 80'	Kohistani	2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
5	23 March 2011	Gurgaon, India	Bhutan	2–0	W	Nadeem 60', Kohistani 64'	Kohistani	2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
6	7 April 2011	Kathmandu, Nepal	Nepal	0–1	L		Kohistani	2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
7	9 April 2011	Kathmandu, Nepal	Sri Lanka	1–0	W	Hadid 82'	Kohistani	2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
8	11 April 2011	Kathmandu, Nepal	North Korea	2–0	L		Kohistani	2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
9	29 June 2011	Tursunzoda, Tajikistan	Palestine	2–0	L		Kohistani	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
10	3 July 2011	Al-Ram, Palestine	Palestine	1–1	D	Arezou 63'	Kohistani	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
11	3 December 2011	New Delhi, India	India	1–1	D	Arezou 5'	Amiri	2011 South Asian Football Championship
12	5 December 2011	New Delhi, India	Sri Lanka	3–1	W	Ahmadi 22',36' Yamrali 78'	Sharityar	2011 South Asian Football Championship
13	7 December 2011	New Delhi, India	Bhutan	8–1	W	Arezou 15', 18', 45+2', 83' Yamrali 4' Amiri 10' Mashriqi 60'Sharityar 48'	Arezou	2011 South Asian Football Championship
14	9 December 2011	New Delhi, India	Nepal	1–0	W	Arezou 101'	Mashriqi	2011 South Asian Football Championship
15	11 December 2011	New Delhi, India	India	4–0	L			2011 South Asian Football Championship

Current squad

This is the full current squad. Caps and goals as of 12 December 2011.
Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only. This section is out of date.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
25	1GK	Hamidullah Yosufzai	(1981-12-02) 2 December 1981	17	0	Kabul Bank
1	1GK	Shamsuddin Amiri	(1985-10-09) 9 October 1985	11	0	Kabul Bank
26	1GK	Mansur Faqiryar	(1986-01-03) 3 January 1986	5	0	VfB Oldenburg
22	1GK	Bashir Darman	(1973-11-01) 1 November 1973	1	0	Kabul Bank
2	2DF	Muqadar Qazizadah	(1988-09-11) 11 September 1988	12	0	Kabul Bank|- class="nat-fs-player"	33	2DF	Saboor Khalili	(1985-09-05) 5 September 1985	2	0	SV Curslack-Neuengamme
3	2DF	Zohib Islam Amiri	(1987-05-02) 2 May 1987	31	2	Mumbai FC
4	2DF	Faisal Sakhizada	(1990-10-22) 22 October 1990	12	0	Ordu Kabul
5	2DF	Zakria Rezai	(1989-07-29) 29 July 1989	9	0	Ordu Kabul
16	2DF	Djelaludin Sharityar	(1983-03-15) 15 March 1983	21	1	Al Hadd SCC
19	2DF	Mujtaba Faiz	(1989-11-21) 21 November 1989	3	1	Kabul Bank
14	2DF	Yousef Samy	(1985-04-11) 11 April 1985	2	0	Bay Area Ambassadors
34	2DF	Qays Shayesteh		3	0	Emmen
19	2DF	Yusuf Barak	(1984-02-02) 2 February 1984	6	0	KSV Hessen Kassel II
29	2DF	Bashir Ahmad Saadat	(1981-12-27) 27 December 1981	7	0	Maiwand Kabul FC
6	3MF	Maqsood Hashemi	(1985-01-22) 22 January 1985	24	2	Ordu Kabul
7	3MF	Israfeel Kohistani	(1987-06-05) 5 June 1987	31	1	Kabul Bank
8	3MF	Waheed Nadeem	(1989-06-02) 2 June 1989	9	1	Kabul Bank
9	3MF	Bilal Arzou	(1988-12-28) 28 December 1988	7	7	Asker
12	3MF	Zubayr Amiri	(1990-05-02) 2 May 1990	2	0	Eintracht Frankfurt II
17	3MF	Harez-Arian Habib	(1982-02-14) 14 February 1982	13	4	Hessen Kassel
20	3MF	Mohammad Mashriqi	(1987-07-07) 7 July 1987	12	1	KSV Hessen Kassel
23	3MF	Masihullah Barakzai	(1990-12-06) 6 December 1990	7	0	Seramiasht
21	3MF	Ghulam Hazrat Niazi	(1992-01-01) 1 January 1992	4	0	Ordu Kabul
28	3MF	Ahmad Arash Hatifie	(1986-03-13) 13 March 1986	3	0	Afghan Premier F.C.
13	3MF	Faysal Shayesteh		0	0	SC Heerenveen
10	4FW	Sediq Walizada	(1992-05-16) 16 May 1992	8	3	Ordu Kabul
11	4FW	Hashmatullah Barakzai	(1987-06-04) 4 June 1987	17	2	Kabul Bank
15	4FW	Ata Yamrali	(1982-07-05) 5 July 1982	14	3	TSV Sasel
24	4FW	Sandjar Ahmadi	(1992-02-10) 10 February 1992	5	2	SC Vier- und Marschlande
18	4FW	Mustafa Hadid	(1987-08-25) 25 August 1987	8	3	Altona 93
28	4FW	Milad Salem	(1988-03-03) 3 March 1988	4	0	SV Wehen Wiesbaden

Competition records

FIFA World Cup record

Asian Qualification Records
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1930 to 2002	Did not enter
2006 to 2014	Did not qualify
Total		6	0	1	5	2	21

Olympic Games record

• Afghanistan's only appearance in an Olympic Games football tournament was at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games when they played Luxembourg on 31 July 1948 and lost 6–0.

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1900 to 1940	Did not enter
1948	Round 1	1	0	0	1	0	6
1952 to 1956	Did not enter
1960	Did not qualify
1964 to 2004	Did not enter
2008	Did not qualify
Total	Best: Round 1	1	0	0	1	0	6

AFC Asian Cup record

Asian Cup
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1956 to 1972	Withdrew
1976 to 1984	Did not qualify
1988 to 2000	Did not enter
2004	Did not qualify
2007	Did not enter
2011	Did not qualify
Total

Asian Games record

Year	Round
1951	4th Place
1954	Round 1
1958 to 1998	Did not enter
2002	Round 1
2006	Did not enter

• From the 2002 Asian Games Campaign onwards, the U-23 team replaced the full team in the tournament.

South Asian Football Federation

SAFF Championship
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1993 to 1999	Did not enter
2003	Group stage	3	0	0	3	0	6
2005	Group stage	3	1	0	2	3	11
2008	Group stage	3	0	2	1	5	7
2009	Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	7
2011	Runner Up	5	3	1	1	13	7
Total	Best: Runner Up	16	4	3	9	22	34

AFC Challenge Cup

AFC Challenge Cup
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
2006	Group stage	3	0	2	1	3	5
2008	Group stage	3	0	0	3	0	10
2010	Withdrew
2012	Did not qualify
Total	Best: Group Stage	6	0	2	4	3	15

Managers

Name	Nat	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win%
Efimov		1976
Mir Ali Asghar		October 2002	3	0	0	3	0%
Holger Obermann		January 2003	3	0	0	3	0%
Mir Ali Akbarzada		March 2003	2	1	0	1	50%
Ali Askar Lali		2003–2005	5	1	0	4	25%
Klaus Stark		2005 – June 2008	17	2	7	8	12%
Mohammad Yousef Kargar		July 2008 -November 2009	-	-	-	-
Mohammad Farid		December 2009	3	0	0	3	0%
Mohammad Yousef Kargar		November 2010 – present	11	5	2	4	45.5%

See also

Afghanistan women's national football team

References

External links

• footballafghanistan.com
• ELORATINGS
• FIFA
• AfghanMehan
• Afghanland