Nepal have been drawn alongside Syria, host Tajikistan, and the Philippines in Group K for the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers slated for September.

A total of 44 teams were drawn into 11 groups of four each at a ceremony held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday. Each group will see teams play each other once in a single round-robin format.

There are a total of 15 spots up for grabs for the seventh edition of the AFC U23 Asian Cup. The 11 group winners and the four best second-placed teams will progress to the U23 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia next year.

Nepal will have a tough time to make their debut in the event. Nepal have been participating in the qualifiers for the event since 2012, which was for the inaugural edition of the Cup in Oman in 2013.

The Gorkhalis, who were placed with Jordan, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Bangladesh, could only register one win, against Bangladesh, in the first qualifiers, which was hosted by Dasharath Stadium, in 2012.

They couldn’t win a single game in the qualifiers for the next four editions.

Nepal lost all games of the qualifiers for the 2016 edition when they faced Saudi Arabia, Iran (host), Palestine and Afghanistan in 2015. They lost to Uzbekistan, the UAE (host) and Lebanon in 2017; and against Qatar (host), Oman and Afghanistan in 2019.

Nepal couldn’t register a single win in the qualifiers in 2021, when they travelled to Tajikistan with Iran and Lebanon. Nepal did not participate in the qualifiers for the previous edition of the Asian Cup in 2023.

The upcoming qualifiers will mark Nepal’s return to the qualifiers and they will resume from where they left: Tajikistan. In a dismal showing, Nepal have not only remained winless, but also goalless in all the editions of the qualifiers they have participated so far, except for the first one in 2012.