Afghanistan is competing in Group E of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers alongside Japan, Singapore, Cambodia, and Syria. So far, Afghanistan has only won two of their games against Cambodia, while losing their games against all others in the group. Afghanistan will face Japan in their second leg today at 3:00 PM. They lost their first leg 6-0 to Japan on 8th September 2015. Afghanistan’s last game in Group E is against Singapore on 29th March 2016.

Despite being one of 12 founding members of the AFC (Asian Football Association), Afghanistan have made little impression on the international stage. They have never qualified for the AFC Asian Cup and the South Asians' qualifying attempts for the past three FIFA World Cups have invariably ended in early exits.

Having spent two decades in the wilderness due to political turmoil, the conflict-ravaged country started a rebuilding campaign from 2002. Their progress culminated two years ago when the Lions of Afghanistan defied all the odds to win the 2013 SAFF Championship title. The current squad features a series of overseas-based stars with Moss FK forward BalalArezou and German-based SandjarAhmadi the most notable.

Afghanistan’s new head coach PetarSegrt has played an important role in boasting the morale of the team in the last few games and earning Afghanistan the runners-up title of 2015 SAFF games. Segrt is a Croatian-born German coach and former football defender.