Nepal U-23 football team’s disappointing Asian Cup qualifying campaign in Tajikistan

Nepal’s national football teams  across  all  age groups continue to struggle in international  football tournaments.

The  Men’s U-23 squad  endured  yet another setback,losing three successive matches in the Asian Football Confederation U-23 Asian cup Saudi Arabia 2026 qualifiers,which concluded in Dushanbe,Tajikistan recently.

Nepal competed in Group K against formidable opponents in the likes of hosts Tajikistan,Syria and Philippines in the league cum knock out format.

The team was  captained by  Ayush  Ghalan and studded with talented  and  skilled upcoming players who are on the cusp of  making it to the senior national squad. 

They entered the qualifiers hoping to overcome the odds stacked against them and prove themselves. Given the odds, there was not much  pressure on them  since they had little to lose.This provided  them the luxury to go all out to achieve the best possible outcome.

As always, the tournament offered them the opportunity to make the most of their potential and deliver the desired outcome.

They needed to be  highly competitive, mentally strong,consistent, peak their performance,rise to the occasion,cash in on scoring opportunities,demonstrate  effective team coordination and individual  brilliance throughout the competition.

Considering the opponents strengths,they could not afford to get complacent at any point of the competition.

Apart from that a good start was necessary for the team to build confidence and early momentum. However,that did not transpire.  

In the opener against Tajikistan they failed to put  the pieces together  and badly lagged behind when it came to delivering a  fighting  performance  and collective effort.

They struggled in every department of the game and could not keep  pace with the opposition’s aggressive and well organized brand of football.

The defense came under constant  pressure and failed to keep the attacking offense at bay.

The home team made light work of the opponent as they ended the match scoring four goals without conceding a goal.

The defeat exposed Team Nepal’s weaknesses technically,tactically and physically.

In Syria they had another tough opponent to deal with.They had to  show some semblance of  resistance.

They did put up an improved performance and even shocked the opposition by taking the lead.

However,they ran out of steam,lost composure and failed  to defend the lead, and conceded  the match 2-4. 

In the final game against the Philippines Team Nepal  was expected to excel and end  the qualifiers on a positive outcome.

Contrary to expectations,they were overcome by mediocrity  and  sloppiness and made a mess of the match. They had to pay dearly as they were outsmarted and handed a 0-4 drubbing.

The setback once again  highlights Nepal’s  continued struggle in international football and the amount of work that remains to be done moving forward.

Undoubtedly,there is no dearth of talent in the country.The real issue is the failure to tap into their potential fully. Unless Nepal football develops a strong domestic football backed by a fully professionalized league,robust infrastructure,productive grassroots football,and good governance,the issue will continue to persist.