Goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong and midfielder Rohit Chand are back into national football squad on Thursday after missing out on a recent friendly match against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta'zim.

Nepal's Swedish head coach Johan Kalin included the duo in the 23-member final squad for the first two matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup Preliminary Joint Qualifiers. Kalin again left out regular skipper Biraj Maharjan, who was also ignored for Nepal's friendly against Johor Darul Ta'zim on Monday. Nepal lost the friendly match 1-0 in Johar Bahru.

Nepal are set to visit Kuwait for the first match of their Group 'B' campaign on September 5 and Taiwan on September 10. The Group 'B' also included Asian heavyweights Australia and Jordan. The Nepali team is travelling to Kuwait on Sunday.

Chand, who plays professional football in Indonesia for Persija Jakarta, was excused for the Darul Ta'zim friendly due to his club commitments. Chemjong was left out for the friendly as he was in Japan for training. Chand arrived in Nepal on Thursday and will join the training camp from Friday. Chemjong joined the team on Thursday after arriving in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Kalin had left out Maharjan for Darul Ta'zim match citing concerns over his fitness. The 29-year-old is the most experienced player in the Nepali squad having won the highest 77 caps but was out of form lately. He was also benched for a match against Taiwan on June 6, Nepal's most recent international friendly match.

Apart from Maharjan forward Bimal Rana and goalkeeper Alan Neupane, who were part of the friendly match against Darul Ta'zim, have been left out. Experienced forward Bharat Khawas also misses out as the Armyman is currently undergoing military training in Thailand.

In the international friendlies since Kalin took over the national team rein on March 1, the Swede is yet to taste victory. The match against Kuwait will be his first official competitive tournament. Nepal were originally drawn to host Kuwait on September 5 and Taiwan on September 10 in their first two matches. But due to unavailability of Dashrath Stadium, which is currently undergoing renovation for the 13th South Asian Games, Nepal flipped the fixtures on mutual consent with their opponents.

In all, 40 teams of Asia are divided into eight groups of five teams each. Eight group winners and four best runners-up will secure places for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Finals in China as well as the final round of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The remaining 24, except for the four bottom-placed teams who fail to pass the joint Qualifier hurdle, will have another shot at earning tickets to the AFC Asian Cup. The 24 teams will fight it out for another 12 berths for the Asian Cup.

Nepali Squad

Goalkeeper: Kiran Chemjong, Bikesh Kuthu, Bishal Shrestha

Defender: Saroj Dahal, Ajit Bhandari, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Ananta Tamang, Devendra Tamang, Rajeen Dhimal, Suman Aryal

Midfielder: Sunil Bal, Ravi Paswan, Anjan Bista, Sujal Shrestha, Heman Gurung, Bikram Lama, Tej Tamang, Santosh Tamang, Bishal Rai, Rohit Chand

Forward: Bimal Gharti Magar, Abishek Rijal, Nawayug Shrestha