Five SAFF Women’s Championship finals in six editions. A 14-year long painful wait for a maiden SAFF trophy. Will Nepal be able to break the title jinx this time?

“Our goal is the SAFF championship title,” Nepal captain Anjila Tumbapo Subba said on the eve of the tournament. “Our team is fit and balanced…we are ready.”

Nepal begin their bid for a maiden SAFF Women’s Championship title and their first ever major international trophy against Bhutan on Friday.

Nepal have played 11 finals in the last two and half decades and have won none.

Nepal have been drawn alongside Bhutan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka in Group B. They take on the Maldives in their next group match on Monday before wrapping up the group stage by facing Sri Lanka on Thursday.

Coach Rajendra Tamang’s side will be backed by home support once again—like the last two editions (2019 and 2022)—and will enter the competition as favourites.

But the task will not be easy.

Until 2019, India were the sole dominant force in South Asian women’s football, having won all the first five editions.

However, their supremacy in the region came to a brutal end in 2022 when Bangladesh won the title for the first time. India were also beaten 3-0 by Bangladesh in the group stage.

Nepal were the finalists and were largely tipped to win the championship after knocking out India in the semi-finals but their woes continued when they lost the final 3-1 to Bangladesh.

On paper, these three sides (Nepal, India and Bangladesh) will be the top contenders again.

India will look to reclaim the throne they lost two years ago, while Bangladesh will aim to assert themselves as the new powerhouse by winning a second straight title.

For Nepal, the opportunity to win a first title is back at home again but they will first need to overcome the challenges of superpowers India and defending champions Bangladesh.

“We have played a lot of finals but have not won any. It’s time for the players to step up and motivate themselves to break the jinx,” said coach Tamang, adding that they had been training with complete focus on the trophy despite a short preparation period.

“We only had two weeks of training because of the ANFA Women’s League. It would have helped a lot if we were given the opportunity to play a number of international friendlies prior to the tournament.”

“But, despite the setbacks, we have prepared well,” added Tamang.

Nepal’s star forward Sabitra Bhandari is set to miss at least one match due to her engagement with French Club En Avant Guingamp.