‘Nothing else matters’: the football event that enthrals (and now and then divides) Australia’s Afghan community

From humble beginnings, the Afghan National Cup has become an epic annual tournament – and one where passions can sometimes spill over

During a sunny afternoon on the last Thursday in December, the women’s final of the Afghan National Cup was played on a state-of-the-art Sydney football field in front of a rapturous crowd.

The soccer tournament has become an institution for the more than 70,000 members of the Afghan Australian community, serving as a bookend to the year for the past 15 years. This time the cup drew about 650 players representing 34 teams, following qualifiers in major cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, and spectators from across the country.

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