From progress to pause: The stop-start reality of Pakistan women’s football

Every time the Pakistan women’s national football team returns to international action, it gets the entire fanbase excited. Their performance and results (well, some of them) back that hype.

The Shaheens recently made their debut in the FIFA Series, taking on unfamiliar opponents in challenging conditions in Ivory Coast. The FIFA Series this month marked a major milestone for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and Pakistani football, as they featured in a FIFA-organized event for the very first time.

This came on the back of last year’s impressive AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualification campaign debut, where Pakistan picked up two wins in three games. After those July 2025 qualifiers, there was hope that the team would be getting regular fixtures and move on from ad hocism. Sadly, that didn’t change.

Despite getting into the FIFA Series, Pakistan failed to make use of three FIFA windows leading up to the event. Meaning the team had not played since the Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers back in July 2025. Before those qualifiers, Pakistan had also missed three FIFA windows to play friendlies.

Pakistan’s next international commitment was the South Asian Women’s Championship in India this May-June, which the team won’t participate in. Ongoing Pakistan-India tensions has brought cross-border sports participation to a halt, depriving the Pakistan team from chasing the regional title with no alternative in sight.

PFF’s financial struggles mean it is unable to organize regular fixtures. Reportedly, Jordan’s offer to host Pakistan for international women’s friendlies in June was also declined. Not taking part in already available events like the SAFF Championship makes matters worse.

These troubles aren’t just exclusive to the women’s team, however. The Pakistan men’s team last played an international friendly in June 2023 and then missed 12 international matchdays, despite playing 14 competitive fixtures. They will likely play a four-nations men’s tournament in Maldives in June though.

For some the question now arises, if the federation faces funding troubles due to ongoing issues with FIFA/AFC and lack of corporate sector confidence, shouldn’t the government be providing funding for alternative fixtures due to their own policy of skipping any sporting event hosted in India?

A year after the elections, the PFF’s relations with the government have improved slightly. It now has a ruling party’s Member National Assembly in a FIFA committee — Syeda Amnah Batool was recently appointed to FIFA’s Institutional Reforms Committee — who has also used her social media to hype up the women’s team’s performance. What she can do on the funding front remains to be seen.

This could also be an opportunity for Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz to maybe consider backing women’s football; her government has spent a lot on women’s sports in Punjab in recent times.

The Pakistan women’s national team offers an amazing opportunity to Pakistan’s corporate sector to back a brand that can inspire an entire nation, on and off the pitch. The players have won several hearts and minds with their performances. There are so many successful examples in the region and worldwide where corporate support has propelled several national teams to unparalleled heights.

Head coach Adeel Rizki and every player speaking to the media after FIFA Series urged for more regular games so that the team can continue building on this and not be left adrift for another year again. With no SAFF Championship participation and the new Asian Games’ football format expected to restrict teams like Pakistan, it has left the women’s team with only friendly matches or invitational tournaments as an alternative. The PFF can and should look at other regional events like the Central Asian Football Association or West Asian Football Federation women’s championships to send the women’s team as a guest team to participate.

Women’s football needs proper direction. Domestic competitions must resume and age group teams revived. Pakistan last fielded age group girls’ teams back in 2018 and still relies on some of the local talent unearthed from that era. The PFF also advertised the WNT’s head coach vacancy but then decided to keep the existing coach for now. The PFF will need to decide what it wants on that front.

While the PFF president Mohsen Gilani has been a vocal and active supporter of the Pakistan women’s national team project, same cannot be said of some local football stakeholders from the more conservative regions where women sports are either heavily restricted or non-existent. Some don’t seem keen on the women’s team for various inane reasons, so the PFF leadership must ensure no one imposes any roadblocks on women’s football.

Every time Pakistan’s women’s national team plays, it gives hope. Then it wastes several FIFA international windows without any fixtures, snatching away that hope until some tournament compels their reactivation. National teams cannot be run on dhakka-start basis.

Pakistan WNT last played a home game in 2014. Twelve years ago! It would great to bring them back for a home fixture in front of their own fans who now genuinely want to see them play.

Ali Ahsan is the Editor of FootballPakistan.Com