300 Schools, One Trophy: The Hunt for Nepal's Next Football Stars Begins
The search for Nepal's next generation of football stars begins on September 10, when the Asian Paints Championship Inter School U18 Boys and Girls National Football Tournament 2026 starts. More than 300 schools will compete across seven provinces in a large-scale initiative to spot young talent and move it quickly onto the national stage. Himalayan Dialogue Pvt. Ltd, which obtained official approval from the National Sports Council to ensure professional standards and adequate athletic supervision. The provincial qualifiers will begin at the same time on 14 major sports grounds and school pitches. To ensure equal representation, the tournament is divided into regional contests. Koshi Province will hold the girls' matches in Biratnagar and the boys' matches in Itahari. Madhesh Province will host the boys' games in Lalbandi and Simara, while Rautahat will host the girls' teams. In Bagmati Province, the boys' events will be based in Chitwan, and both groups will play in Kathmandu. Gandaki Province will split its games between Pokhara and Gorkha. Lumbini Province will spread its games across Ghorahi, Nepalgunj and Butwal. Dhangadhi will manage all matches for Sudurpashchim Province. The tough qualification stage will reduce the field to 12 top squads: six boys' teams and six girls' teams. They will advance by overcoming the regional competitions to reach the national championship round. The finalists will all go to Kathmandu for the final match, set for October 2. A total prize fund of more than 1.6 million rupees will be awarded to the best performers.  Fans and players who want to play have already started interacting with the championship equipment. A specially designed trophy has completed its first visits to Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi. It will tour Pokhara and Biratnagar later in October. This year, the football tournaments are also focusing on environmental conservation. Alongside the matches, the organisers have introduced a new One Goal One Tree initiative. Each time a player scores a goal, the campaign will plant a sapling. This approach links athletic achievement directly to ecological impact and gives young athletes a concrete connection to environmental stewardship. Local communities are currently supporting their own schools. For many players under the age of 18, this tournament is their first chance to take part in a highly regulated setting that is closely scrutinised at the national level. The National Sports Council considers these grassroots competitions important channels for selecting players for the national team. In this high-pressure atmosphere, scouts can assess how young players respond to tactical directives and how they perform in a tournament setting. The committee has also directly asked the national media for continuous coverage to promote football development at the school level and inspire young talent.
