Afghan Women Who Played for Survival | Texas News

Texas News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jul 10, 2026 · 1m

These Afghan women, once soccer stars, fled their homeland five years ago as the Taliban rose to power, arriving in Houston with nothing but their courage. At just sixteen, Zed Sultani faced threats that women were only meant for domestic work. For years, they couldn’t play the game they loved — FIFA helped them escape and get green cards, but left them stranded, excluded from refugee teams and forced into grueling overnight warehouse jobs to survive. Sodaba Khinjani, once a dentist, now works as a dental nurse, haunted by the fear of revealing her past and the tragic loss of her brother who…