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Iran players feeling ‘emotional strain’ as welfare concerns grow ahead of Women’s Asian Cup | Samantha Lewis

24 février 2026 à 03:58

Preparations for the nation’s second appearance at the tournament has been impacted by the troubling events at home

This week, Iran’s women’s football team is expected to touch down in Australia to compete in their second Women’s Asian Cup. But exactly who will arrive, or what condition they will be in when they get here, is anyone’s guess.

Amid a backdrop of anti-government protests and subsequent violent crackdowns by the authorities over the past few months, Iran’s top women footballers have been struggling to prepare for one of the biggest tournaments of their lives.

North Korea: world’s most secretive nation lands in spotlight at Women’s Asian Cup | Samantha Lewis

The Guardian

Par : Samantha Lewis

23 février 2026 à 05:58

The world’s No 9-ranked team, who have been largely absent from international competitions for over a decade, is reaping the benefits of state-sponsored investment

In 1986, when Norwegian delegate Ellen Wille stood on stage at Fifa’s annual congress in Mexico and demanded the creation of a World Cup for women, it sparked support from one of the room’s unlikeliest allies. Delegates from North Korea, so the story goes, were inspired by Wille’s speech and returned to Pyongyang with a plan: to use women’s football as a tool to reassert their collapsing power on the world stage.

The plan was simple: starting in the late 1980s, the government would invest heavily in the women’s game, inserting football programs into school curriculums, establishing women’s teams in the military where players trained full-time, creating youth talent identification pathways, and constructing brand-new facilities across the country.