Football

Nepal U-17 head coach Urjen Shrestha on Thursday announced his final squad for the upcoming AFC U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

Nepal are drawn in Group F with Thailand, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei. According to the All Nepal Football Association, the team will leave for Vietnam on Sunday for the competition starting from October 5-9.

Nepal face Thailand in their opening match on Wednesday. 

A total of 30 players were invited to a closed camp that started on September 16, days after the team’s return from the U-17 SAFF Championship in Sri Lanka. Out of them, the head coach picked 23 players for the qualifying campaign in Vietnam.

Having suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of India in the U-17 SAFF Championship final, Nepal will be looking to redeem themselves by qualifying for the U-17 AFC Asian Championship next year.

Divided into five groups of four, four groups of five, and one group of three, the Qualifiers will feature 43 AFC members who will compete in the round-robin format for 16 final berths. Ten group winners will be joined by the six best runners-up in the finals.

Nepal U-17 squad

Goalkeepers: Samir Chand, Rubin Bhogati, Krishal Moktan
Defenders: Madan Poudel, Yunish Magar, Dipak Thapa Magar, Nishant Tamang, Bikram Tamang, Semanta Thapa, Aswin Ghorasainee, Dhiraj Bishwokarma, Ram Thapa
Midfielders: Harish Raj Bhatta, Prashant Laksham, Binod KC, Shriyans Manandhar, Niraj Karki, Saroj Darlami, Unish Budhathoki, Lachhu Thapa, Dhan Singh BK
Forwards: Subash Bam, Sijal Rai