By Sachit Subba • Football • Oct 06, 2025 17:43 PM • 135 views
The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) officially bid farewell to the Nepal National Football Team on Monday as the squad prepares to travel to Vietnam for the third round of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers. The farewell ceremony was held at ANFA headquarters in Satdobato, Lalitpur. The event was graced by the Member Secretary of the National Sports Council (NSC), Tanka Lal Ghising, as the chief guest. Acting ANFA General Secretary Damodar Bhattarai (Badri), along with central members Purushottam Thapa and Sarila Shrestha, extended their best wishes to the team before departure. Nepal, placed in Group F, is scheduled to play two legs against Vietnam on October 9 and 14. Initially, the second leg was slated to be held in Kathmandu; however, the AFC declared the Dasharath Stadium unfit due to infrastructure deficiencies and safety concerns — forcing Nepal to surrender its home advantage.
Nepal's recent form has been far from ideal. The national side suffered a disappointing 2–1 defeat to Laos in their last outing, following a 2–0 loss to Malaysia earlier. With two consecutive defeats, Nepal currently sits at the bottom of the group standings. Only the group winners will secure direct qualification for the 19th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, set to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027. A defeat in the first leg against Vietnam could effectively end Nepal's hopes of advancing to the continental finals. The national team will depart for Vietnam at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Nepal Squad: Kiran Kumar Limbu, Bishal Sunar, Deep Karki, Suman Shrestha, Ananta Tamang, Abhishek Limbu, Rohit Chand, Sanish Shrestha, Sumit Shrestha, Yogesh Gurung, Bimal Pandey, Mani Kumar Lama, Rohan Karki, Eric Bista, Kushal Deuwa, Kritishratna Chhunju, Ayush Ghalan, Manish Dangi, Dinesh Henjan, Laken Limbu, Subash Bam, Anjan Bista, Gillespie Jung Karki.
