ANFA: All Nepal Football Association

2025-10-24

Nepal lose to Iran in friendly

Iran were crowned champions of the Tri-Nation Women’s International Friendlies after a commanding 3–0 win over Nepal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Friday, October 24, 2025.

Having already beaten India 2–0, Iran secured the title with a perfect six points. India and Nepal will play the final fixture on October 27.

After a goalless first half where Nepal defended with discipline and resilience, Iran broke the deadlock just three minutes into the second half. Sara Didar, continuing her scoring form, latched onto a long ball from goalkeeper Raha Yazdani and finished calmly in the 49th minute.

Zahra Ghanbari doubled the lead moments later with a curling free-kick in the 52nd minute, before Shabnam Behesht sealed the win with a stunning left-footed strike from 20 yards in the 57th.

Three goals in eight minutes ended Nepal’s resistance and highlighted Iran’s superiority. At full time, Iran celebrated a well-deserved title and a commanding performance.

2025-10-14

Nepal lose 1-0 to Vietnam

An early own goal gifted Vietnam a 1-0 win over Nepal in their AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ Qualifiers Final Round Group F match on Tuesday.

The win lifted Vietnam to nine points, three behind leaders Malaysia while Nepal remained anchored at the bottom of the group after losing all four of their matches.

After a 30-minute delay due to adverse weather conditions, Vietnam took the lead five minutes into the tie when under-pressure defender Suman Shrestha turned the ball into his own net.

The hosts, who beat the South Asians 3-1 on Thursday, worked hard to find a second but had to be content with a slim lead going into the break.

Head coach Kim Sang-sik made four changes in the second half to shore up his side’s attacking threat, but they failed to catch fire but it didn't matter in the end as Vietnam took the points to stay in sight of leaders Malaysia.

Nepal next play Malaysia while Vietnam face Laos, with both matches to be contested on November 18.

2025-10-09

Nepal held off by Vietnam in first round

Vietnam held off a battling Nepal to seal a 3-1 win in their AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ Qualifiers Final Round Group F tie on Thursday.

Sanish Shrestha cancelled out Nguyen Tien Linh’s opener before Nepal were reduced to 10 men going into the break, with Vietnam sealing the win through second half goals from Pham Xuan Manh and Nguyen Van Vi.

Vietnam dominated proceedings from the onset and their early pressure paid off in the ninth minute when Tien Linh broke the deadlock in the ninth minute.

Nepal, however, showed resilience and clawed their way back when Shrestha struck in the 17th minute to level the tie.

The momentum shifted in first half stoppage time after Laken Limbu was shown the red card, leaving Nepal with a mountain to climb for the remainder of the contest.

Vietnam used their numerical advantage to good effect when they retook the lead through Xuan Manh in the 67th minute with Van Vi putting the game beyond Nepal’s reach after finding the net five minutes later.

2025-10-14

AFC Social Responsibility Committee outlines strategic approach for more inspired outcomes

The AFC Social Responsibility Committee reinforced its ambitions to maximise the impact of the beautiful game to enrich and empower the Continent’s most marginalised communities after approving several key decisions today at its third meeting held in Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Kicking off the proceedings, Chairperson Zaw Zaw hailed the upcoming AFC Dream Asia Foundation Conference 2025 to be held in the Kingdom tomorrow as a breakthrough moment for social responsibility on the Continent.

At the same time, members of the Committee were also quick to convey the appreciation of the Asian football family to the Active Sports Centre, an organisation based in Malaysia, for their generous contribution of 5,000 footballs to the AFC Dream Asia Foundation (ADAF).

Subsequently, following requests from several Member Associations (MAs), the Committee approved the allocation of these footballs to the Afghanistan Football Federation, the All Nepal Football Association, Federação Futebol de Timor-Leste (FFTL), the Lao Football Federation (LFF), the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), and the Syrian Football Association (SFA).

The Committee also approved the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF): Play On Period Programme, which targets the normalisation of menstrual education and access within the South Asian football ecosystem, focusing on coaching staff, female players, and football infrastructure across all seven SAFF MAs.

Scheduled to be implemented from March 2026 to January 2027, the programme will develop and implement basic menstrual education for coaching staff and MA safeguarding teams by normalising open conversations on periods to break the stigma and silence, whilst ensuring access to menstrual hygiene products within football infrastructure.Underscoring the importance of forging strategic partnerships, the Committee also mandated the Administration to explore suitable collaborations with international and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) through Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) as part of efforts to enhance the reach and effectiveness of social responsibility programmes by leveraging broader expertise, networks, and resources, leading to more meaningful outcomes.

The decision, the Committee noted, will pave the way for the AFC, and its MAs and Regional Associations (RAs), to establish clear frameworks, strengthen accountability, promote shared objectives, ensure mutual understanding of roles and responsibilities, and streamline programme implementation.

Members of the Committee were also pleased with the plans to expand the scope of programmes implemented under the ADAF, which will now add Sustainability and Health & Wellbeing to its three existing pillars: Child Safeguarding, Education, and Inclusion.

The strategic move will not only enhance the ADAF’s ability to deliver more broad-based programmes that align with the industry’s best practices, such as the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but also respond more effectively to those who are in need.

The Committee was also briefed on the successful outcomes of recent initiatives, including the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA): Child Safeguarding Seminar 2025, the UN Football for the Goals Forum 2025, the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF): Competition Safeguarding Seminar 2024, and various MA-driven activities since the last meeting.

Similarly, the growing number of MAs and RAs aligning their messages, strategies, and operations with the UN Football for the Goals initiative as well as the appointment of dedicated Child Safeguarding Officers across nearly all of the AFC’s members was also lauded by the Committee.

All decisions will be submitted to the AFC Dream Asia Foundation Board of Trustees for approval and subsequently to the AFC Executive Committee for ratification.