Miserable Nepal suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat against a composed Bahrain in their first leg of the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa on Friday.

In fact, Nepal were too lacklustre against the Pearl Divers that the Gorkhalis finished the match without a single chance created at the Bahrain National Stadium.

Nepal were better than this.

Vincenzo Alberto Annese will be under sharp scrutiny as a series of disappointing results has left Nepal without a win—or a draw—and at the bottom of the group (H). It was their third defeat in as many matches. They have conceded 11 goals in three matches and scored none in the second round.

Things have never been promising for Nepal under Annese who arrived in Nepal as head coach in March last year. Nepal almost suffered their first ever defeat against South Asian minnows Bhutan during the Three Nations Cup the same month. Nepal also struggled against Laos in the first round and had to scrape a hard fought 2-1 aggregate victory against Laos to progress further. They also had a pity campaign at the SAFF Championship last year.

The Italian coach will also have no room to rest the blame on an inexperienced team after surprisingly leaving out key and star players Rohit Chand, Arik Bista and Ayush Ghalan from the squad.

Annese introduced defender Abhishek Limbu and also gave debuts to defender Saubhagya Rai, and forwards Samir Tamang and Sanjeev Bista.

But Nepal were never in the game.

Annese’s men were already feeling sorry for being forced to play their home match at Bahrain after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) inspection team concluded Dasharath Stadium ‘unsatisfactory’ to host the qualifier match.

Bahrain were looking to recover from their 2-0 qualifier loss against the United Arab Emirates at home and gave Nepal their longest night of the year with a second minute lead when Mohamed Marhoon plucked a long ball outside the Nepal box and headed it for Mahdi Al Humaidan to poke home past Nepal captain and goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu.

Nepal’s lack of depth in the squad was clearly evident when Dragan Talajic’s men doubled their lead seven minutes later through Sayed Baqer who found Waleed Al Hayam’s corner that evaded all and tapped at the far post.

To make the matter worse, Anjan Bista—Nepal joint highest scorer—had to be substituted in the 16th minute due to an injury.

Bahrain lost their sharpness and focus after scoring their second but Nepal still looked clueless and continued to struggle for ball possession.

Limbu, who had already prevented two Bahrain efforts, had to make another brilliant save in a one versus one with Ali Madan who was quick to pounce on a defensive error from Chhiring Lama.

Madan added salt to Nepal’s wound adding Bahrain’s third at the stroke of halftime, heading in a rebound after Marhoon’s 25-yard freekick hit the framework.

Nepal showed some improvements after the break but Bahrain still proved too strong for them.

The Reds stayed calm, slowly built the game and put the result far from reach in the 87th minute through a header from Ibrahim Al-Khatal after Hazza Mubarak set him up with a cross from the left.

Second half substitute Ismaeel Abdullatif then wrapped up a big victory for Bahrain from the spot in the stoppage time after Laken Limbu needlessly brought down Al Khatal inside the box.

The result gave Bahrain six points from three matches, three points behind leaders UAE who beat Yemen 2-1 in Abu Dhabi to stay firmly on course for the third round of World Cup qualifiers and a direct berth to the Asian Cup.

Yemen are third with three points.

Nepal and Bahrain meet at the same venue again in the second leg on Tuesday.

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 advance into the third round of the World Cup qualifier and secure automatic spots in the Asian Cup, while the remaining teams will compete in the third round of the Asian Cup Qualification.