After winning their first major international title, South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) cup in 2013, Afghanistan National Football team is looking forward to breaking new ground in the upcoming preliminary round of matches ahead of 2018 World Cup.

The Lions of Khorasan sealed a clear 2:0 victory over Laos at Laos National Stadium in Vientiane city on May 29th. This was the first of their two friendly games before the official preliminary stage matches. Their second game is with Bangladesh on June 2.

 Once again, this win gave Afghans all over the country a shared cause to celebrate. Moments like this, bring Afghans together and distract them from the realities of life in Afghanistan and to take pride in support of their national team. Sports, even if it is for a short period of time, dominate as a favorite topic of conversation among different age groups rather than politics.

This win also brought back memories of Afghans coming out of their homes across Afghanistan to celebrate for several nights and days when Afghanistan stunned two-time defending champions India in Kathmandu to win the 2013 SAFF title.

Before the match with Laos, as part of their preparation program the newly selected board members of Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) and its players were participating in a training camp outside the country in Bahrain for four days. Afghanistan will face Syria in their first official match of the preliminary stage during the 2018 World Cup in Mashhad, Tehran on June 11.

Afghanistan’s win over Laos has set the expectations high for the match against Bangladesh and their first official match against Syria. Afghans keenly look forward to their heroes’ performance on the field this time with the bigger hope of qualifying for further stages  of competition for Russia in 2018.