Nepal taking on Laos in its 100th international match

KATHMANDU: The Nepali women’s national football team will celebrate a historic 100th international match when it faces Laos in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Sunday. The match will kick off at 6:15 pm Nepali time at the Milliy Stadium.

The match also marks a new chapter under newly appointed head coach Patrick De Wilde, who will take the reins of the national team for the first time.

Nepal is pooled in Group H in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualification alongside Laos, Sri Lanka and hosts Uzbekistan. Ranked 100th in the FIFA rankings, Nepal enters the game as the higher-ranked side compared to Laos (107th). Nepal hopes to celebrate its centennial match with a win to strengthen its chances of qualifying for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Sri Lanka is 159th in the FIFA ranking, while Uzbekistan is the strongest among the four with a FIFA ranking of 50.

A total of 34 countries have been pooled in eight groups for the qualification. The winners of the eight groups will join four nations—Japan, South Korea, China, and Australia—which have already qualified for the final tournament.

Nepal has been participating in international football since its debut at the 6th AFC Women’s Championship in Hong Kong in 1986. Nepal also competed in the competition in 1989 and 1999.

Nepal is pinning high hopes on players like Anjila Tumbapo Subba, Sabitra Bhandari, Rekha Paudel and Pooja Rana, who play in international leagues and bring much-needed international exposure to the team.

In its nearly four-decade-long journey in international football, Nepal has reached a dozen finals. However, it has always fallen at the final hurdle. The 100th match represents both a proud milestone and a new opportunity to rewrite that narrative for the national team.