The clinics mainly focused on women, girls and refugee children, using sport as a tool for integration and empowerment, and were delivered in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Football Association’s (KNVB) WorldCoaches programme.

Popal visited the initiative in the Dutch town of Ter Apel, helping to train residents of the local asylum seeker centre to become sports coaches and community leaders, enabling them to organise regular football activities for local children. Her own experiences in creating the Afghanistan women's team before seeking asylum in Denmark is an inspirational example for them to follow.

"As someone who has lived the refugee experience myself and used football as a lifeline, it was a true pleasure to work with refugees in this programme," said Popal, now a bestselling author who leads Girl Power, an NGO that helps refugee women rediscover their strength through sport.

"After everything they have been through, seeing their strength, courage, and commitment to creating positive change in their new communities through football and life skills was incredibly inspiring. I hope they become community leaders and role models for the next generation. It reminded me why I started this journey in the first place: to use the power of the game to give others the opportunities and hope that once saved me."

In October, Popal was also in the Netherlands for the fourth edition of the UEFA Unity EURO Cup, a tournament for refugee footballers and members of their host communities, supported by UNHCR, which brought together 18 teams in a powerful celebration of football’s unifying spirit. There, during a high-level forum hosted by the KNVB at its headquarters in Zeist, she spoke about her own experiences of the power of football in the integration of refugees, and how football helped her after she fled Afghanistan.