Nepal national football team will play two friendly matches against India next month. The matches will be played at the Dasharath Stadium on September 2 and 5.

"The friendlies have been confirmed by both All Nepal Football Association and the All India Football Federation," said Nepal's football governing body, ANFA, on its website on Friday.

Both Nepal and India are preparing for the delayed SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship, which has been pushed a year further to October 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, SAFF has yet to decide the host nation for the 13th edition of the championship.

Nepal are bidding to reach their first ever SAFF final while India are looking to lift the title for the record eighth time.

The last time Nepal hosted India was in March 2015 when the two nations played a goalless draw at the Dasharath Stadium in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Later in December that year, Nepal lost to India 4-1 in the SAFF group stage match. Nepal also succumbed to a 2-0 defeat in an exhibition match held in Mumbai in June 2017.

Both Nepal and India have reached the third round of the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers. The qualifying matches will start from February next year.

SAFF is expected to decide the host nation and championship schedule next week.

Bangladesh was initially scheduled to host the 13th edition of SAFF games in September 2020. However, after Bangladesh withdrew as host due to the pandemic, Nepal had received a conditional offer from SAFF to host the championship. The Maldives submitted its official bid to host the championship last month.