Rohan Karki, Bishal Basnet, Abhishek Limbu, Ajay Chaudhary, Saubhagya Rai and Samir Tamang have made their cut for the first time.Photo: Courtesy of ANFA
Coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese has announced a 23-member squad for Nepal’s 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers second round matches against Bahrain.
Annese has called up six new faces in the squad.
Rohan Karki, Bishal Basnet, Abhishek Limbu, Ajay Chaudhary, Saubhagya Rai and Samir Tamang have made their cut for the first time.
Bharat Khawas has also returned to the national fold.
Annese has left out key players Deep Karki, Ayush Ghalan and Suraj Jeu Thakuri as they were not present at the closed camp due to their engagement with other tournaments.
Nepal will play both their home and away matches against Bahrain at the Bahrain National Stadium on March 21 and March 26, respectively.
Nepal were scheduled to host Bahrain for the home fixture but the venue was shifted to Bahrain after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) deemed Dasharath Stadium—country’s only international-standard stadium—unsatisfactory for the World Cup qualifiers.
Before travelling to Bahrain, Nepal will tour Malaysia to play a friendly match as part of their preparation for the World Cup qualifiers game.
Nepal are pitted alongside the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Yemen in Group H. They are at the bottom of the group after losing their away match at the UAE 4-0 and home match against Yemen 2-0.
A total of 36 teams have been divided into nine groups of four teams in the second round. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup and the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
The bottom two teams from each group will head to the third round of the Asian Cup qualification.
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