In May FIFA announced it would support the creation of a new Afghan women's refugee team, which will enable selected players to compete in international friendlies, but not official, competitive matches. Yousufi says this is a "big step" but players still want full recognition.

"It’s not only about us representing Afghanistan, to wear the jersey, to have the same freedom we had – it’s beyond that,” says captain Fatima Yousufi. “It’s about all those girls – young, old, all of those women who are in Afghanistan. The biggest mission for our team is to be a voice for them."

The weeks following the launch of the new distribution scheme have been some of the deadliest since October 2023, with almost 800 Palestinians killed trying to get food, and thousands more injured, according to the UN.

“People go [to the distribution sites] knowing that they could very well be the next casualty. It’s not just being shot to death, it’s you could be maimed and paralysed, you can be hit and be amputated, and you could have a shell explode and give you some sort of internal injury," says Dr Fadlalla.

“We’re ready for a battle; we’re ready to fight, and we understand what the stakes are,” says Ramatu Bangura, co-chief executive at Purposeful. “These forces that are coming into our country from outside are designed to take us back to a colonial era that we’re not interested in going back to.”