Maria Jamila Khan (

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

; ماريه جميله خان) (born 9 November 1990) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Vietnamese club

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

the Pakistan women's national team. Born in the United States to a

Pakistani-American Pakistani Americans () are citizens of the United States who have full or partial ancestry from Pakistan, or more simply, Pakistanis in America. They can be from different ethnic groups in Pakistan like Punjabis, Punjabi or Muhajir people, Muhaj ...

father, she moved as an adult to the United Arab Emirates, and played

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

for the United Arab Emirates national team, before pledging her international allegiance to her ancestral nation Pakistan.

Club career

In 2009, Khan joined

Denver Pioneers The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the University of Denver (DU). They play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, and have amassed 35 NCAA titles as of 2024, which is in the top 15 among all schools (24 in S ...

in the United States, where she was a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. In 2013, Khan moved to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

to pursue her master's degree. There, she transitioned into a midfielder for an amateur side where signed for an Emirati side, where she became a midfielder. It was there that she learnt more about women

football in Pakistan Football is among the most popular team sports in Pakistan, together with long time number one cricket and field hockey. Pakistan's current top domestic football league is the Pakistan Premier League, recognised by the AFC as the official na ...

, which eventually led her to play for

WAPDA The Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority (), colloquially known as WAPDA, is a Pakistani government-owned public utility agency maintaining hydropower and water in Pakistan, although it does not manage thermal power plants. WAPDA includes ...

at the 2018 National Women Football Championship. In August 2023, she joined

Saudi Women's Premier League The Saudi Women's Premier League officially the SAFF Women's Premier League () is the top flight of women's football in Saudi Arabia. History The first Saudi women's club were King's United based in Jeddah, and Eastern Flames in Dhahran. Bot ...

club Eastern Flames.

International career

In October 2020, Khan was one of the 30 players called up for the training camp of the Pakistan women's national team. In August 2022, she named as captain of the national team. She received praises from all across Pakistan including

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who has served as the 20th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan since March 2024, having previously been in the role between Ap ...

for her goal against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

International goals

Personal life

Maria Jamila Khan is born into

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

family. Khan is the niece of

Jahangir Khan Jahangir Khan (Pashto, born 10 December 1963) is a former professional Pakistani squash player. He won the World Open title six times, and the British Open title ten times (1982–1991). He is widely regarded as the greatest squash player ...

, who is widely considered to be the best squash player of all time, and the granddaughter of squash player

Hashim Khan Hashim Khan (; – 18 August 2014) was a squash player from Pakistan. He won the British Open Squash Championships (the then ''de facto'' world championship) a total of seven times, from 1951 to 1956, and then again in 1958. Khan was th ...

. She is an ethnic

. She is married to Omar Al Duri, a British fitness trainer of Iraqi-Saudi descent based in Dubai.

References

External links

Maria Khan
at Top Drawer Soccer Women's association football goalkeepers Women's association football midfielders Expatriate women's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Living people Soccer players from Denver American women's soccer players American sportspeople of Pakistani descent American people of Pashtun descent American expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates American expatriate women's soccer players Pakistan women's international footballers Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Pakistani women's footballers 21st-century Pakistani sportswomen Denver Pioneers women's soccer players Khan family (squash) United Arab Emirates women's international footballers Dual internationalists (women's football) Saudi Women's Premier League players Expatriate women's footballers in Saudi Arabia Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate women's footballers in Vietnam Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam 1990 births 21st-century American sportswomen {{US-women-footy-goalkeeper-stub