KATHMANDU: By sweeping past Laos (9‑0) and Sri Lanka (8‑0), Nepal’s women’s national team have moved to within one match of a first AFC Women’s Asian Cup appearance since 1999.
The decisive fixture comes on Saturday in Tashkent, where the Group F hosts, Uzbekistan, have posted identical results, 10‑0 against Sri Lanka and 7‑0 over Laos, leaving both nations level on six points with an identical +17 goal difference and no goals conceded.
Because only the group winner advances to the 2026 finals in Australia, the Nepal‑Uzbekistan meeting is effectively a final.
Should the sides draw, head‑to‑head criteria will not separate them; the next tiebreaker is fair‑play points, meaning yellow and red cards could decide the ticket.
Nepal already carry one booking, shown to defender Bimala BK in the opener.
Captain Sabitra “Samba” Bhandari has been the driving force of Nepal’s campaign, scoring back‑to‑back hat‑tricks.
“The results so far are all about team work,” she said. “We have six points, a positive mentality, and we’re ready to fight the main challenge.”
Nepal’s coach Patrick De Wilde echoed the optimism but warned that “discipline, on and off the ball,” will be decisive against the tournament hosts.
History, however, favours Uzbekistan. Nepal have lost all three previous meetings, most recently a 3‑2 defeat in the 2019 Nadezhda Cup final despite two goals from Bhandari.
Both teams are eyeing a return to the continental stage after lengthy absences—Uzbekistan last appeared in 2003, Nepal in 1999.
Victory for either will secure qualification; a draw will send calculators—and perhaps card counters—into overdrive.
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