Football

Nepal U-20 team left Kathmandu on Thursday to participate in the Qualifiers for the U-20 AFC Asian Cup. The qualifiers will be held in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain from September 10 to 18.
The youth players and team officials had been bade farewell by ANFA officials at the association’s headquarters in Satdobato.

Nepal have been drawn in Group B along with hosts Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Qatar. The eight teams compete against one another in a round-robin format.

It will be a stern test for coach Megh Raj KC’s side, especially considering their disappointing third-place finish in the U-20 SAFF Championship this June. Nepal last qualified for the Asian Cup finals in 2004.
 

Nepal will start their qualifying campaign against Bhutan on September 10, and face Qatar on September 12. They will then take on Bahrain on September 14 and measure up against Bangladesh on September 18.

The top two teams from the group will qualify for the U-20 AFC Asian Cup finals to be held in Uzbekistan next year.

The Qualifiers of elite men’s youth football in Asia are being held for the first time since 2018. These competitions also mark a change in the AFC’s age-group tournament, with the U-20 replacing the U-19 competition and organised without the zoning principles.

Nepal U-20 squad 

Goalkeepers: Ishwor Gurung, Jiyarat Sheikh, Top Bahadur Rana
Defenders: Abhishek Waiba, Ajay Chaudhary, Amar Shrestha, Jaan Tamli, Raj Thokar, Shrijan Dani, Shyansu Bhusal, Sumit Shrestha
Midfielders: Aashish Rai, Ayush Ghalan (C), Dipesh Gurung, Janmajay Dhami, Kritish Ratna Chhunju, Managya Nakarmi, Rakesh Biwhwokarma, Sandeep Karki, Sanjeev Lama   
Forwards: Niranjan Malla, Rohan Khadgi, Sugam Suwal