The Nepal U19 football squad on Monday headed to India to take part in the third edition of the SAFF U19 Championship.

The tournament, which is taking place in Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh from May 9 to 18, features six teams—Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

Nepal are drawn alongside host India and Sri Lanka in Group B, while Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives make up Group A.

The six teams will compete in a single round-robin structure in the group stage. The top two teams from respective groups will then progress to the semi-finals.

Nepal will kick off their campaign with a match against Sri Lanka on May 11. They will then play defending champion India on May 13.

Nepal won the inaugural edition of the U19 Championship in 2015 and finished third in the second edition in 2023.

“We will be aiming to lift the trophy again,” Nepal’s U19 head coach Urjan Shrestha said in the farewell programme held at ANFA office in Satdobato, Lalitpur.

ANFA officials, including President Pankaj Bikram Nembang and General Secretary Kiran Rai, also expressed best wishes to the players and coaching staff during the function.

Shrestha had finalised his 23-member squad on April 27.

The team comprises three goalkeepers—Bhakta Bahadur Pariyar, Upendra Lwagun and Bishesh Baniya; eight defenders—Roshan Tamang, Rohan Moktan, Prashant Moktan, Kushahang Nembang, Madan Paudel, Ram Thapa, Bijay Urba and Siddhant Khadka; eight midfielders—Krishna Bahadur Ale, Krish Thapa Magar, Saroj Darlami, Lachhu Thapa, Sabin Kumar Lungeli Magar, Ranjeet Lama, Subash Bam and Bigyan Khadka; and four forwards—Pawan Pakhrin, Dharbendra Kunwar, Sujan Dangol and Prasun Tamang.