Abiha Haider (born 23 February 1996) is a Pakistani footballer who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Balochistan United and the

Pakistan women's national football team The Pakistan women's national football team is the female representative football team for Pakistan. The team was formed in 2010 and has not yet entered the AFC Women's Asian Cup or FIFA Women's World Cup, but has competed in four editions of ...

.National Team
PFF Official website. Retrieved 20 May 2016 She was also the captain of Pakistan's

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

team which competed in the

2017 Australian Football International Cup The 2017 Australian Football International Cup (also known as the AFL International Cup 2017 or IC07) was the sixth edition of the Australian Football International Cup, a triennial international Australian rules football competition run by the ...

. In 2020, she was featured in the list of 30 Most Powerful Muslim Women in Sports. She is also a part of Pakistan's National Youth Council.

Football career

Domestic career

At the age of 12, Abiha represented

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

at the

2008 National Women Football Championship The 2008 National Women Football Championship was the fourth season of the National Women Football Championship, the top-tier of women's football in Pakistan. The tournament took place from 20 to 30 August 2008 at Jinnah Sports Stadium in Islamabad ...

. In the 2010 National Women Football Championship, she scored two goals in a 4–3 comeback win in the final group stage match against

Diya Diya may refer to: * ''Diya (film)'', 2018 Tamil- and Telugu-language film * Diya (Islam), Islamic term for monetary compensation for bodily harm or property damage * Diya (lamp), ghee- or oil-based candle often used in South Asian religious ceremo ...

which helped her team top its group and progress to the quarterfinals. She represented Islamabad at six National Championships till 2013, scoring 41 goals in 36 appearances. Abiha moved to Balochistan United in 2014 At the 10th National Women Football Championship, she scored three goals as her new team went on to win their maiden national title. In 2021, Abiha joined Highlanders, and represented them at the 13th National Women Football Championship. In the first group match, she scored twice in a 16–0 win over Nawanshehr United.

International career

Abiha was the youngest player to represent

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

when, at the age of 13, she took part in the football event at the

2010 South Asian Games The 2010 South Asian Games, officially the XI South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event that took place from 29 January to 8 February 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the South Asian ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. She subsequently represent Pakistan at the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, and the

2014 SAFF Women's Championship The 2014 SAFF Women's Championship was an association football tournament for women's national teams organised by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). It was the third edition of the tournament since the first one in 2010. The competition w ...

s. She was also part of the squad that visited Bahrain for a three-match friendly series against

Bahrain women's national football team The Bahrain women's national football team was first formed in 2003. The team represents Bahrain in international women's football and thus falls under the governance of the Bahrain Football Association; more specifically run by the women's co ...

. In 2019, Abiha was part of two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

entries when she participated in a football match that lasted 69 hours during the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The event took place in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and involved 807 players from 53 countries.

Personal life

Abiha's father, Masood Haider, was a footballer who played at

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

level, while her mother, Zara, was a former

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player as well as a television

newscaster A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

. Abiha has a LLB (Hons) and an LL.M. degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Honours

Balochistan United

National Women Football Championship The National Women Football Championship is the top cup competition for women's football clubs in Pakistan – designed as an equivalent to the National Challenge Cup for men. It was started in 2005 by the Pakistan Football Federation. Youn ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual

* 30 Most Powerful Muslim Women in Sports * 25 under 25 Extraordinary Young Women of Pakistan *

: Most nationalities in a football (soccer) exhibition match

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haider, Abiha 1996 births Living people Pakistani women's footballers Place of birth missing (living people) Women's association football midfielders Pakistan women's international footballers