Talking to journalists at the team’s farewell last week on Wednesday, Nepal's U20 head coach Yam Prasad Gurung had expressed that his team would defeat Group A opponents Saudi Arabia and Bhutan while the only challenge would be two-time Asian Cup winners and three-time World Cup winners North Korea.

The confidence of defeating the South Asian neighbour and the hosts of the group’s qualifier was a result of the two comfortable wins—6-1 on July 11 and 8-0 on July 19—in the SAFF Championship in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

However, speaking at the pre-tournament conference in Bhutan on Tuesday, Gurung said that the SAFF results would not be a stepping point in the Asian Cup qualifier.

"Similarly, Bhutan are playing in their home ground and they also have a good fan support," said Gurung. "Thus, we are not taking them lightly based on their performance in the SAFF tournament.

"The SAFF tournament allowed me to understand my players better," Gurung continued, "and we focused on improving our mistakes in the training we held after returning to Nepal."

Gurung shared that he was not in pressure as he felt as if he was still in Nepal. He also said that he would not let down Nepali fans back home this time. “We are here to qualify,” Gurung added, “We will play our game. I have complete belief in my players.”

Nepal’s skipper Birsana Chaudhary accepted that Bhutan was a good team alongside the other opponents. “But we have prepared well to overcome these adversaries,” she said, adding, “We are not taking any team lightly and will give our best in every game. We have to beat every team to top the group and qualify for the Asian Cup.”

Gurung’s statement during the farewell in Nepal of defeating Saudi Arabia seemed to be because of the Arabian side's newness.

Saudi Arabia is not new in women’s football. Their senior women’s team debuted in 2022 while the U-20 team was formed in 2023.

Nonetheless, as per the head coach and skipper of Saudi, they are not to be taken lightly.

“Our participation in the tournament is a great example of how far and how fast the women’s football in Saudi is growing,” Saudi Arabia’s head coach Xavier Vilamala said. “It is the first time for all of us. But we are excited and ready. We are constantly chasing our best version.”

Saudi were the first team to reach Bhutan having arrived around 20 days ago. The time has allowed them to get acclimatised to the different weather conditions in South Asia compared to West Asia, Vilamala shared.

Similarly, when asked how big of a challenge the tournament was, Vilamala said, “I am not going to lie, it is a huge challenge. But there is a saying ‘A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor’,” adding, “This kind of challenge will help us grow. We focus not only on the tournament but preparing the players for the senior team.”

Majd Alotaibi, captain of the Saudi side, said that she was confident of her teammates and the effort they have put in so far. The Saudi side had been training for the qualifier since February 2025 compared to around two-month preparation of Nepal.

“We will represent Saudi in the best way possible,” said Alotaibi, adding, “We trust the process 100 percent.”

The North Korean side, who followed Saudi Arabia in the conference, argued that they were there to win, enter the Asian Cup and make their way to the World Cup.

North Korea’s head coach Han Chol-Hak said, “By winning the first place in this qualifier, we will live up to the expectations of the country and we will show our capabilities.” He stressed that he was well aware that the opponents had prepared well, but still, they were there to win.

Nonetheless, Bhutan, the hosts, also expressed their desire to qualify for the Asian Cup in Thailand in 2026 at their home ground.

“All have a positive mindset and we are ready for the tournament,” Bhutan’s head coach Tanka Maya Ghalley said. “Recently, we played the SAFF tournament and we gained a lot of experience from it. We also faced challenges but we have rectified our mistakes and are looking forward to positive results this time.”

Bhutan had not revealed their squad yet, but Ghalley argued that they had some new players compared to the ones who were in the SAFF tournament.

“It is my first time leading the team as the head coach in the home ground. Our girls are also playing for the first time,” Ghalley continued, “but, we will not take it as a pressure, but a boost to our fighting spirit and make our fans happy with the result.”

Bhutan’s first game of the qualifier is against Nepal. The duo will compete at the Thimphu-based Changlimithang Stadium on Wednesday after the fixture between North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

It was a result of their newness that Nepal’s head coach Yam Prasad Gurung was pretty confident that his side did not see the Arabian side as an obstacle.