The All Nepal Football Association, on Friday, announced a 23-member squad participating in the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

Of the 44 teams divided into 11 groups of four each, Tajikistan are hosting Nepal, Syria and the Philippines for the fixtures of Group K.

Nepal have never qualified for the U23 Asian Cup and are aiming for their maiden berth in the tournament.

Nepal will face Tajikistan on September 3, Syria on September 6, and the Philippines on September 9. All the games will be played at the Dushanbe-based Pamir Stadium.

A total of 16 teams will play in the Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, who have already qualified as the hosts, in January next year.

Of the 15 remaining slots, 11 will be filled by the winners of the 11 groups in the qualifiers. The other four will be the best second-placed teams.

Nepal will be led into the qualifiers by head coach Nabin Neupane. Of the 23-member squad he will be taking to Tajikistan, Krishal Moktan, Amit Thapa and Bishal KC are the goalkeepers.

The defence line will be formed around Bibek Gurung, Bishal Nepali, Lahan Subba, Nigma Lama, Ram Thapa, Sankar Tharu and Semanta Thapa.

Abhishek Sengtang, Aayush Ghalan, Aron Thapa, Niraj Karki, Dipesh Gurung, Kritish Ratna Chunju, Pujan Thapa, Sanjeev Lama, Santosh Khatri, Sujan Magar and Sumit Shrestha are the midfielders.

Neupane kept a good number of midfielders to assist the forwards Rohan Khadgi and Nirajan Dhami.