Nepal U23 men’s football team has participated in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in five of the last six editions since the tournament's inaugural edition in 2013, but they have failed to progress to the big stage in all of them. Nepal did not participate in the qualifiers for the sixth edition in 2023.

However, this time, Nepali youngsters are aiming to silence the critics and prove their worth by qualifying for the U23 Asian Cup for the first time in their history.

“We have four players in the squad who also play for the senior side,” Nepal's U23 head coach Nabin Neupane said in the pre-tournament conference on Tuesday. “We have prepared well. We spent two months in training.”

Aayush Ghalan, Kritish Ratna Chhunju, Sumit Shrestha and Nirajan Dhami are the four players in Neupane's squad to have donned the jersey for the senior team.

"All the teams are strong, but we are here not to lose," Neupane said. "We are excited to face the tough teams. We want to grab three points in the beginning."

Nepal, who are in Group K alongside Syria and the Philippines, will face the hosts Tajikistan in the second match of the opening day of the qualifiers at Pamir Stadium in Dushanbe today (Wednesday, September 3).

While it is the first time that the Nepal U23 side will meet Syria and the Philippines, they have played against Tajikistan in the qualifiers before. Nepal had travelled to Dushanbe in 2021 for the qualification stage of the 2022 Asian Cup, the fifth edition. The team would not want to remember the then qualification results. Further, the hosts are also not willing to let Neupane's team take away three points in their opening game at their home ground.

"We are very seriously prepared against Nepal," said Levan Khomeriki, head coach of Tajikistan. "We respect all the opponents. But to play football is to win, so we are also serious about it."

Similarly, head coaches of Syria and the Philippines also stressed that they were in Dushanbe not only for participation, but to ensure a spot and reach Saudi Arabia in 2026 for the Asian Cup.

Tournament format

A total 44 teams are participating in the qualifiers and they are divided into 11 groups of four each. According to the AFC, it is the largest number of entries in the history of the tournament.

Of the 16 spots in the Asian Cup, one has been given to Saudi Arabia, who are hosting the Finals in January 2026. Thus, with just 15 spots remaining, 11 will be filled by 11 group winners from the qualifiers. The remaining four will be provided to the best-ranked runners-up.

Nepal’s past in the qualifiers

Nepal won only one of the four fixtures of Group D in the qualifiers for the first edition in 2012. In the qualifiers hosted at Dasharath Rangasala, Nepal defeated Bangladesh 4-1 while lost by 0-1, 2-4 and 0-3 to Yemen, Uzbekistan and Jordan, respectively.

The first edition's qualifiers was the best for Nepal so far as they scored six goals while conceding nine. But after that, in the next three qualifiers, Nepal neither scored any goals nor won any of the 13 games; meanwhile, they conceded 48.

In the second edition's qualifiers in 2015, Nepal travelled to Tehran. They lost all four games of Group C. They were defeated 0-5 by Iran, 0-2 by Afghanistan, 0-5 by Saudi Arabia and 0-4 by Palestine.

Travelling to the UAE for the third edition’s qualifiers in 2017, Nepal again stayed goalless. They lost 0-5 to the hosts, 0-2 to Uzbekistan and 0-2 to Lebanon.

They then reached Doha in 2019 for the 2020 Asian Cup qualification. Drawn in Group A alongside Qatar, Oman and Afghanistan, Nepal lost 0-1, 0-5 and 0-2, respectively.

This time in Group B, Nepal then flew to Tajikistan in 2021 for the 2022 Asian Cup qualifiers. They were thrashed 0-4, 0-6 and 0-4 by Iran, Tajikistan and Lebanon, respectively.

While Nepal withdrew from the qualifiers for the sixth edition of the Asian Cup in 2023, Nepal are resuming their campaign in Tajikistan looking to turn the tides this time.