Nepal on Tuesday stormed into the finals of the WAFF Women’s Championship after a late strike by Preeti Rai gave the national women’s team a 2-1 victory over Lebanon in Saudi Arabia.

Rai scored in the stoppage time to ensure that the national women’s team progressed into the tournament finals, safeguarding their unbeaten run of three wins in as many matches.

Lebanon were gifted a late first-half goal when Anjila Tumbapo Subba missed the ball completely and Puja Rana’s back pass flew straight into the net for an own goal in the 37th minute.

The national women’s team were under pressure, remaining goalless for most of the match, following the fatal error.

Bimala Chaudhary’s 65th-minute attempt for an equaliser from the penalty area was rejected by Lamitta El Dib. Shortly after, a second attempt by forward Rashmi Ghising also failed after the ball flew past the post.

El Dib continued to put on a great goalkeeping show, rejecting Sabitra Bhandari in the 75th minute, but Bhandari swiftly collected herself to chip in an equaliser, capitalising on a minor mistake from Amina Karime.

Nepal were put out of their misery of suffering a setback after Preeti Rai converted a corner kick from Chaudhary in the final minutes of the injury time.

Rai shot past a crowded penalty area, managing to find the net on the far left corner, as the stadium erupted in cheers.

With Tuesday’s win, Nepal finished on top of Group B with nine points from three wins in as many matches.

They will vie against three-time tournament champions Jordan, who are also undefeated, tomorrow.