Nepal and hosts Uzbekistan recorded convincing victories over Laos and Sri Lanka, respectively, on the first match day of Group F of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers at the Tashkent-based Milliy Stadium on Sunday.

While Nepal scored nine goals against Laos, Uzbekistan reached the double figures—10 goals—against Sri Lanka.

It was a motivating win for Nepal’s new head coach, Patrick De Wilde, and newly appointed captain, Sabitra Bhandari, as it was the duo’s first game in their respective roles.

Bhandari, widely known as Samba, struck four goals to take her international tally to 61. She also fired the ball that led to Nepal’s ninth goal in the 88th minute. Although the stadium announcer initially credited the goal to Bhandari, the match report later recorded it as an own goal, as the ball deflected off Laos defender Saysamone Inthaphone before crossing the line.

“It was a good start for us in the tournament, but we focus on one game at a time,” Wilde told the Post, citing that he was not thinking much about the last game against Uzbekistan, but the second against Sri Lanka.

A similar response came from Kotryna Kulbyte, Uzbekistan’s head coach, after the 10-0 win over Sri Lanka. “We did a great job today. Of0R4 Pcourse, the result was 10-0, but we still have spaces to improve,” she told journalists after the match. “So, we are already thinking about the second match [against Laos].”

Nepal and Uzbekistan will face Sri Lanka and Laos, respectively, on Wednesday. Despite both coaches stressing the importance of taking it match by match, it seems likely that the group winner—and the ticket to Australia—will be decided when Nepal and Uzbekistan meet on July 5, assuming both sides record expected victories in their second games.

Nepal and Sri Lanka first met during the SAFF Championship in 2010, when Nepal won 8–1. The teams have faced each other nine times since then, with Nepal winning every encounter. Their last two matches ended in 6–0 victories for Nepal, while the narrowest margin was a 1–0 win.

July 5 will mark the final match day in Group F. Laos and Sri Lanka will open proceedings (kickoff 6:15 pm Nepali time), followed by Uzbekistan vs Nepal (kickoff 9:15 pm Nepali time).

If both Nepal and Uzbekistan win their next matches, the decisive clash between them will determine which nation qualifies for the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia to face the continent’s best.

If that final match ends in a draw, tiebreakers will be applied. There is no extra time or penalty shootout in the qualifiers—both teams would share a point, and the ranking will be decided first by overall goal difference. If still equal, the total number of goals scored in all group matches will be considered, followed by the fair play record.

Fair play is assessed based on yellow and red cards received during the group stage. So far, Nepal’s Bimala BK was shown a yellow card in the 85th minute against Laos.

If the fair play scores are also identical, the group winner will be decided by a draw of lots.

“I am not thinking about it much now,” Wilde told the Post. “We will think about such scenarios when the time is right.”