Nepali players’ heads were down. They were not talking with one another. Head coach Nabin Neupane, who always puts up a smile, also looked devastated. The Nepali team had just suffered a 1-2 loss against Bangladesh in the semifinal of the SAFF Women’s Championship at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, India, on Wednesday.

It was only the second time in eight editions of the South Asian tournament that Nepal bowed out without reaching the final. And it seemed to have hurt the players, staff and fans alike as the golden generation of Nepali women’s football could not even compete for the trophy this time.

In December, it will be four decades since the Nepali women’s football team played its first international match—against Hong Kong on December 14, 1986. And there is a high risk that the Nepali women’s team will cross 40 years without having won an international title.

Furthermore, Nepal’s recent SAFF campaign highlights a shifting landscape, where South Asia’s emerging teams—Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives—are steadily reaching Nepal’s competitive tier.

In the group stage, Nepal had a lucky escape against Bhutan while Renuka Nagarkote’s first goal for Nepal in 16 years aided the win over Sri Lanka.

Moreover, the way India were restricted to a 1-0 victory by Bhutan in the other semifinal, Nepal have a new opponent in South Asia to be extremely wary of.

Similarly, the Maldives also raised eyebrows when they made it 2-2 after trailing by two goals until the 34th minute against defending champions Bangladesh in the group stage. The Maldives lost the game 2-4, but they showed their improvement.

But Nepal did not show development in their game. Here, the Post looks at what went wrong with the Nepali team in Goa, India.

Politics

The Nepal women’s team could not train effectively for the South Asian tournament because Nepali football, which was already under state suspension, was on the verge of an international ban from FIFA.

State suspension had led Nepal to withdraw from a FIFA Series in Thailand. The team was diligently training in a closed camp with the aim of facing DR Congo, and then possibly Thailand, in the two matches of the series in April. However, with less than two weeks remaining, the players were surprisingly informed of the withdrawal.

Nepali women footballers had then raised the issue through their social media accounts and requested the stakeholders to keep politics away from the game.

While chatting unofficially, Nepali players in Goa argued that they were not mentally ready for the SAFF tournament, as there were high chances of Nepal withdrawing from it too. Similarly, they were also denied the chance for regular football as the Martyr’s Memorial ANFA Women’s League was postponed, again due to the tussle between ANFA and the state, after two of the three matches on the first day.

Team composition

One thing that was clearly visible during Nepal’s tour to Goa was that the team needed better alternatives in the attack and defence setups.

The defence line of Nepal was seen making several mistakes this time. On the other hand, the players on the front looked as if they had forgotten to score goals.

Yes, Nepal were without the star striker Sabitra Bhandari ‘Samba’. Coach Neupane also accepted that Samba’s absence resulted in Nepal’s failure to convert the chances. But it cannot be an excuse.

It was the seventh match that Nepal were playing under Neupane. And the loss against Bangladesh was his fourth. Nepal conceded nine goals in those matches while managing to score seven.

Meanwhile, when the Nepali team returns to Kathmandu, they should not be welcomed with criticisms. They will be arriving with hopes for positive changes in Nepali football, fulfilment of basic needs, proper academies to produce new generations of women footballers and regular tournaments.

Captain’s dispute

Nepal were expecting to defeat Bangladesh as the opponent was going through an internal conflict. However, they forgot that their players were also not on the same page.

Disputes and disagreements have persisted in the Nepali team over who will wear the captain’s armband for around five years now. And it has only gotten worse.

It has not been long since former head coach Patrick de Wilde and the Nepali team’s management staff engaged in a heated discussion at the dressing room of the Milliy Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, during the opening match of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifier between Nepal and Laos on June 29 last year. The reason was the captain’s armband.

De Wilde, who left the role in just over a month of appointment, was clear on the subject that his captain will not be a goalkeeper since the current rules of football only allow the team captain to talk with the referee. He wanted Samba to be the captain. But the management had given the armband to Renuka Nagarkote.

With Samba recovering from surgery in Qatar, Neupane gave the armband back to Subba for SAFF. When Subba did not play against Sri Lanka, Nagarkote was the captain.

Now, ANFA needs to make sure that the coach has full freedom in selecting players and the captain.

Promise to stagnation

The Nepal women’s football team has shown extreme promise and potential for almost a decade now. The team got another boost after a quality campaign in the WAFF Championship in 2024. And they seemed to have reached a high under de Wilde.

In and against Uzbekistan, the players had better coordination. Their passes were perfect. The transition from defence to attack was fitting. They positioned themselves properly.

A year later, with almost the same players, Nepal had one of their poorest performances at the SAFF Women’s Championship.

The biggest thing missing from the Nepali football team right now is a ‘winning mentality’—something Bangladesh have mastered lately. Bangladesh coach Peter Butler said it best in Goa: Despite controversies, weak preparation, or a toxic environment, a team needs that hunger to win no matter what.

It’s time to bring that fighting spirit back to Nepal. The players and coaching staff say that they need to start preparing for the next SAFF Championship.

The most worrying aspect of Nepal’s campaign in Goa was not the semifinal defeat itself. It was the lack of visible progress.

This is largely the same group of players that pushed stronger opponents in recent years and came within a penalty shootout of qualifying for the AFC Women's Asian Cup. Under Patrick de Wilde in Uzbekistan last year, Nepal looked organised, aggressive and tactically disciplined. The movement was sharper, the passing cleaner and the team appeared to be evolving.

In Goa, that evolution was difficult to see.

For years, Nepal’s golden generation has carried women’s football in the country. But generations do not last forever. The challenge now is not only to support the current stars but to build the next wave through regular competitions, youth development programmes and better football structures.

The semifinal loss in Goa was painful. But it should also serve as a warning. Nepal’s greatest threat is no longer Bangladesh or India. It is the possibility of standing still while everyone around them keeps moving forward.