500 Afghanis 1990 FIFA World Cup

Afghanistan issued this piece in 1989 under the Soviet-backed Najibullah government, then calling itself the Republic of Afghanistan following a rebranding from "Democratic Republic" in an attempt to project moderation and attract international legitimacy. The country was in the final throes of Soviet withdrawal — the last troops crossed the Friendship Bridge in February 1989 — while simultaneously producing commemorative coinage for a FIFA tournament it had no realistic prospect of attending.

Afghanistan has never qualified for a World Cup. The coin's existence owes more to the foreign currency revenue these issues generated for cash-starved governments than to any footballing ambition.