Nepal coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese on Friday announced the 23-member final squad for the second round of the joint qualification of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asia Cup without including defender Ananta Tamang.

Tamang will miss Nepal’s away fixture against the United Arab Emirates as he was ruled out due to injury.

“Tamang injured his knee and scans showed he would not be fit to face the UAE in the Qualifiers,” All Nepal Football Association stated on its Facebook page.

Tamang is expected to be fit when Nepal host Yemen at the Dasharath Stadium on November 21.

“We wish him a speedy recovery,” ANFA added.

Annese is likely to field Arik Bista and Aashish Chaudhary in the back line to fill the void after naming them alongside defenders Rohit Chand and Sanish Shrestha.

Defender Yogesh Gurung, midfielder Nisan Hamal and forward Rajesh Pariyar have also made their cut in the national squad for the first time, while Sesehang Angdembe has made a comeback.

Nepal defeated Laos 2-1 in aggregate in October to progress into the second round.

Nepal are in Group H which also features Bahrain.

The nine group winners and group runners-up will qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup and the third round of 2026 World Cup Qualification.

Final squad

Goalkeepers: Kiran Kumar Limbu, Deep Karki, Abhishek Baral

Defenders: Sanish Shrestha, Rohit Chand, Anjan Rai, Aashish Chaudhary, Amrit Shrestha, Arik Bista, Chhiring Lama, Yogesh Gurung

Midfielders: Laken Limbu, Utsav Rai, Kritish Ratna Chhunju, Manish Dangi, Sesehang Angdembe, Nishan Hamal

Forwards: Anjan Bista, Ayush Ghalan, Gillespye Jung Karki, Hisub Thapaliya, Sanjeeb Bista, Rajesh Pariyar