Pakistan forward Mariam Mahmood has made history after becoming the first Pakistani player to feature in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
The 22-year-old started for Wrexham AFC Women as they beat FC Pyunik Yerevan 4-2 in the competition’s first qualifying round on July 22, 2026.
The match, played at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground, marked the club’s first-ever European fixture. Wrexham came from behind to win, with goals from Katie Barker, Lili Jones, Ava Suckley and Natasha Thomas sealing the victory.
The result made Wrexham the first Welsh women’s team to win a match in European competition, and they advanced to the next round of their qualifying group, where they will face Latvian side Riga FC.
Mahmood’s involvement in the tie came after an outstanding domestic season that helped fuel Wrexham’s European qualification in the first place.
On March 29, 2026, she became the first Pakistani female footballer to win a European top-flight league title when Wrexham clinched the Adran Premier, the top tier of Welsh women’s football, for the first time in the club’s history. She finished the campaign with 10 goals and two assists.
Mahmood joined Wrexham from West Bromwich Albion Women, where she had come through the academy system and made more than 80 first-team appearances.
Born in Dudley, near Birmingham, in England, she went on to represent Pakistan at the international level, making her national team debut in 2025 in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers, where she scored twice in a 2-1 win over Kyrgyzstan.
Her rise at Wrexham has also carried symbolic weight off the pitch, as the club’s first British-Pakistani and first Muslim player. Speaking to Hyphen about her journey, she credited her family’s support in helping her reach this stage of her career, describing the sacrifices they made, including her father waking up early each day to drive her to training.
