Shortly after the first British troops arrived in Kabul to prepare the way for the deployment of ISAF, the UK Ministry of Defence proposed a football match between an ISAF team and an Afghan team. Football remains a very popular sport in Afghanistan, despite years of oppression and disapproval by the Taliban regime, which regularly used the stadium in Kabul for public executions and torture. The Football Association of England, on behalf of FIFA, offered its support, as did Barclaycard, who sponsor the English Premier League.

The ISAF squad is drawn from eight different national contingents in the Force: Danish, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish and British. The Afghan squad was selected from the players of four Kabul teams. The Afghan and ISAF teams played a practice game on 8 February, as part of their training for the main fixture. A team of experts and officials from the Football Association, led by the Executive Director David Davies, flew to Kabul on 12 February to help prepare for the match on 15 February. Lawrie McMenemy, the former Northern Ireland coach who once served in the British Army as a Coldstream Guardsman, and Gary Mabbutt, the former England and Tottenham Hotspurs player, volunteered to help coach the two teams.

The match was played on 15 February, before a massive crowd in the stadium, estimated to number at least 30,000. Security measures put in place by the Afghan Interim Authority, supported by ISAF, were understandably rigorous, and there was some disturbance outside the stadium as huge numbers of enthusiastic Afghan football fans tried to get into the stadium more quickly. However, notwithstanding this, the match proved a huge success. A magnificent goal by an Afghan player gave them an early lead, but Corporal Ligouri of the Italian Army equalised for ISAF before half-time, and in the second half, ISAF scored another two goals to win by three goals to one. The result, however, was regarded by all involved as of far less importance than the fact that the match could be played at all.

The match marked the first step in a long-term plan to help Afghanistan rebuild its sporting culture after the disruption caused by years of conflict and oppression. An important part of the visit by the FA team has been discussion with the Afghan sporting authorities on arranging assistance from international sporting bodies.

(Further information at FA website)

A football for the match is presented to the Royal Engineers at the Liverpool versus Manchester United match at Old Trafford on 22 January	The stadium in Kabul, misused by the Taliban for years for public executions (High resolution version)	Another view of the stadium. Although poorly cared for by the regime, the surface is still just about playable (High resolution version)
The two teams line up for a practice match on 8 February (High resolution version)	The two teams brush up their skills in the practice match (High resolution version)	Another picture from the 8 February practice game (High resolution version)
The team of experts from the Football Association of England, on arrival in Kabul to help organise the match on behalf of FIFA	David Davies and other FA offcials meet with Afghan sporting authorities to discuss future assistance in rebuilding Afghan sport	Lawrie McMenemy, who volunteered with Gary Mabbutt to help coach the two teams, seen with the specialist search team conducting security checks at the stadium
Gary Mabbutt chats with the Royal Military Police of 156 Provost Company	David Davies talks with Captain Jonny Crook of 2 PARA, who captains the ISAF team, drawn from eight different national contingents	Lawrie McMenemy meets a local supporter
Corporal Hills of the Adjutant General's Corps gets the chance to lift the Premiership Trophy	The Band of the Gurkhas practice in the stadium before providing musical entertainment for the huge crowds attending the match	Major Steve Clarke presents two Afghan boys with his own son's prized Bradford City team strips: ten-year old Jack told his father the Afghan children needed them more than he did
The Afghan team treasure the opportunity to lift the Barclaycard Premiership Trophy	Lawrie McMenemy and Gary Mabbutt present the Afghan players with new football boots, gifted by the FA and Barclaycard	Lawrie McMenemy provides the Afghan team with some coaching advice
Thousands of keen Afghan supporters wait to enter the stadium (High resolution version)	Foreign Secretary Jack Straw discusses the prospects for the match with British paras (High resolution version)	The Afghan Interim Authority and ISAF had put in hand strict security (High resolution version)
Lance Corporal Clark, who collected the match ball at Old Trafford on 23 January, placed it on the centre-spot for the kick-off (High resolution version)	The teams line-up before the start of the match (High resolution version)	Corporal Giacomo Ligouri, Italian Army, equalises for the ISAF team after the Afghan team took an early lead (High resolution version)

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