Nepal women's national football team

This article is about the women's team. For the men's team, see Nepal national football team.

The Nepal women's national football team is controlled by the All Nepal Football Association and represents Nepal in international women's football competitions. The Women's Football Department has been developed to control and manage the women's football activities. The official motto of women's football in Nepal is "Football for Change". It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation and the South Asian Football Federation and has yet to qualify for the World Cup.

Nepal

Nickname(s)	Gorkhalis Chelis
Association	All Nepal Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	SAFF (South Asia)
Head coach	Rajendra Tamang
Captain	Anjila Tumbapo Subba
Most caps	Sabitra Bhandari (52)
Top scorer	Sabitra Bhandari (53)
Home stadium	Various
FIFA code	NEP
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	103 4 (13 December 2024)[1]
Highest	91 (December 2017)
Lowest	119 (September 2015)
First international
Nepal 0–1 Hong Kong  (Hong Kong; 14 December 1986)
Biggest win
Nepal 13–0 Afghanistan  (Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh; 14 December 2010)
Biggest defeat
Japan 14–0 Nepal (Hong Kong; 24 December 1989)  Japan 14–0 Nepal (Barotac Nuevo, Philippines; 12 November 1999)
Asian Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 1986)
Best result	Group stage (1986, 1989, 1999)
SAFF Championship
Appearances	6 (first in 2010)
Best result	Runners-up (2010, 2012, 2014, 2019,2022, 2024)
Medal record SAFF Women's Championship 2010 Bangladesh 2012 Sri Lanka 2014 Pakistan 2019 Nepal 2022 Nepal 2024 Nepal South Asian Games 2010 Dhaka Team 2016 Guwahati & Shillong Team 2019 Kathmandu & Pokhara Team
Website	the-anfa.com

History

Formation

First international football game in the Nepali women's football in 1984

Nepal formed a women's national team in the mid-1980s and debuted in the 1986 AFC Women's Championship. During the start of the tournament, Nepal played their first official match against Hong Kong (14 December 1986), which they lost with a score of 1–0. Nepal women's side also participated in the final three phases of the Asian Cup in 1986, 1989 and 1999, never going beyond the group stages. Nepal proved to be in a difficult group with former champions Thailand, alongside Indonesia and Hong Kong, two relatively strong teams. As a result, Nepal had lost all three matches, two of them jarringly, while the match against Hong Kong proved to be a steady profit. In 1989 Nepal played again in the championship, against the same opponents, except that Thailand was substituted against Japan. This resulted in meagre points for Nepal, who lost every game by a wide margin, the smallest 0–3 against Hong Kong.

Nepal's FIFA First Vice President was Kamal Thapa. Nepal's first woman captain was Rama Singh when the Nepali women's football team was created, Kamal Thapa was the president of the All Nepal Football Association. Singh, who represented the Bagmati team, started playing in 1985. The second national team's captain was Kamala Hirachan who also represented the Gandaki team and the third women captain was Meera Chaudhary who represented Naryani team. Singh later became the first newsreader in Nepali television history, and Chaudhary has held a rank of DSP in Nepal police. The first female international goal scorer of Nepal is Pema Dolma Lama, who scored a goal against Uzbekistan at the 1999 AFC Women's Championship held in Philippines.

Crisis years

As a result of the democracy uprising in 1990, there was an eight-year period without a women's national team. This negatively affected player recruitment, but nevertheless Nepal soon returned to international football during the Women's Asian Cup in 1999. Despite their triumphant return, the results were about the same as before the eight-year hiatus. The championship ended in the group-stage with Japan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and the Philippines, where Nepal lost all four games. Since then, Nepal has not appeared in the Women's Asian cup. Former men's national team technical director, Holger Obermann served as the technical advisor for the Chelis during their 1999 campaign.^[2]

However, this did not mean that Nepal had not played football since 1999. The Mangladevi League, roughly a month-long women's football tourney, was set up trying to bring in women football players across the country. It was played in early 2000, in a league-cum-knockout basis. It was an initiative taken by a single person, but sadly discontinued after a year.^[3]

Nepal had a long period without matches, but they impressed many in the South Asian Games in 2010, where they reached the final after beating several opponents by a wide margin. In the finals they lost narrowly 1–3 against the big favorite India. This gave the national team a much needed recognition. The 11th South Asian Games also were the first to host a women's football event as well.^[4] In the opening match of the 2010 South Asian Games, Nepal women's U23 faced hosts Bangladesh, where they won with a single goal. The second match against Sri Lanka proved to be more illustrious as victory came in the form of 8 goals while holding a clean sheet. However, the scoring spree was short lived as the third group-stage match against India saw a heavy 0–5 loss. Nevertheless, Nepal had done enough to qualify for the second round (semi finals) against Pakistan which they won with a resounding 7–0 scoreline. This meant that Nepal would face a difficult rematch against India in the finals, although any result would ensure a medal at the very least for the Chelis. Despite finally ending the scoring drought against India, the game was lost 1–3. Despite putting on a valiant performance, the Chelis returned home with a silver medal which came to the delight of many supporters of Nepali football due to the rarity of the occasion.

Regeneration

Anjila Tumbapo Subba played numerous games for Nepal

The regeneration of women's football in Nepal was first realised when after the national leagues were reinstated in 2009. The women's national team prior to this hadn't played an international game for 5 years. Nevertheless, the Chelis began training for two upcoming major international tournaments in the following year. In 2010, Nepali women footballers returned with two runner-up trophies, one from the 11th South Asian Games, and the other from the SAFF Women's Football Championship. Despite limited training, resources and less attention compared to the men's team, the women's team performed exceedingly well. In the South Asian Games, they defeated Sri Lanka 8–0, and in SAFF they thrashed Afghanistan 13–0 and Pakistan 11–0. Striker Anu Lama was the star of SAFF, scoring three hat-tricks to be declared the best player of the tournament. However, the team was defeated 0–5 by India in the SAG final, but it was a much more closely fought match when they lost 0–1 to the same team in the SAFF final recently.

Following the team's 2010 regeneration, the women's side's FIFA ranking rose by 22 places.^[5]

Team image

Nicknames

The Nepal women's national football team has also been known as the "Nepali Chelis".

Home stadium

Main article: Dasarath Rangasala Stadium

The Dasharath Rangasala at daytime in 2008

The team's home stadium is the Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium in central Kathmandu. It is shared with the Nepal men's national football team. Holding 25,000 spectators, of which 5,000 seated, the Dasarath Rangasala is the biggest stadium in Nepal. It is named after Dashrath Chand, one of Nepal's martyrs. Prior to the 2013 SAFF Championship in Nepal, the Dasarath Rangasala underwent heavy renovation that saw several improvements such as the expansion of seats from 20,000 to 25,000.^[6]

Results and fixtures

Main article: Nepal women's national football team results

See also: 2021 in association football, 2021 in sports, and FIFA International Match Calendar

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixture

2024

Bhutan  v  Nepal

18 October 2024 (2024-10-18) SAFF Championship GS	Bhutan	0–0	Nepal	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45		Report		Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Attendance: 5,562 Referee: Y.A. Pabasara Minisaraniyapa (Sri Lanka)

Nepal    v  Maldives

21 October 2024 (2024-10-21) SAFF Championship GS	Nepal	11–0	Maldives	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45	Preeti 5', 65', 87' (pen.) Sabita Rana Magar 29' Rekha 32', 42', 48', 63', 78' Anita KC 69' Amisha Karki 88'	Report		Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Attendance: 6,671 Referee: Y.A. Pabasara Minisaraniyapa (Sri Lanka)

Nepal    v  Sri Lanka

24 October 2024 (2024-10-24) SAFF Championship GS	Nepal	6–0	Sri Lanka	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45		Report		Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Attendance: 7,617

Nepal    v  India

27 October 2024 (2024-10-27) 2024 SAFF W SF	Nepal	1–1 (4–2 p)	India	Kathmandu, Nepal
18:30	Bhandari 66'	Report	Basfore 62'	Stadium: Dashrath Stadium Attendance: 18,009 Referee: Om Choki (Bhutan)
	Penalties
	Bhandari Rana Magar Karki		Ashalata Devi Manisha Shirvoikar Ranjana Chanu

Bangladesh  v  Nepal

30 October 2024 (2024-10-30) 2024 SAFF W F	Bangladesh	2–1	Nepal	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:45 BST (UTC+6)		Report		Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Attendance: 15,373

2025

Nepal    v  Kyrgyzstan

17 February 2025 Vianet Championship GS	Nepal	1–0	Kyrgyzstan	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45	Chaudhary 9'	Report		Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Attendance: 7,416 Referee: Kanika Barman (India) Player of the Match: Preeti Rai

Lebanon  v  Nepal

20 February 2025 Vianet Championship GS	Lebanon	0–1	Nepal	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45		Report	Bhandari 42'	Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Attendance: 11,473 Referee: Tekcham Ranjita Devi (India)

Nepal    v  Myanmar

23 February 2025 Vianet Championship GS	Nepal	2–2	Myanmar	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45	Rana Magar 11' Bhandari 41'	Report	May Htet Lu 6' Myat Noe Khin 17'	Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Attendance: 12,605 Player of the Match: Sabitra Bhandari

Myanmar  v  Nepal

26 February 2025 Vianet Championship F	Myanmar	v	Nepal	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45		Report		Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala

All-time results

As of 19 September 2022

counted for the FIFA A-level matches only.

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Nations	First played	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Confederation
Afghanistan	2010	2	2	0	0	20	1	+19	AFC
Bangladesh	2010	12	6	5	1	17	7	+10	AFC
Bhutan	2014	5	4	1	0	23	0	+23	AFC
Hong Kong	1986	3	0	1	2	0	4	−4	AFC
India	2010	17	2	4	11	11	38	−27	AFC
Indonesia	1986	3	1	0	2	2	15	−13	AFC
Iran	2019	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	AFC
Iraq	2024	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5	AFC
Japan	1989	3	0	0	3	0	36	−36	AFC
Jordan	2024	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	AFC
Kuwait	2013	1	1	0	0	8	0	+8	AFC
Kyrgyzstan	2019	2	2	0	0	9	2	+7	AFC
Lebanon	2024	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	AFC
Malaysia	2016	3	1	1	1	3	5	−2	AFC
Maldives	2010	6	6	0	0	36	0	+36	AFC
Myanmar	2018	4	0	1	3	3	10	−7	AFC
Pakistan	2010	4	4	0	0	29	0	+29	AFC
Palestine	2024	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	AFC
Philippines	1999	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	AFC
Qatar	2013	2	2	0	0	9	0	+9	AFC
Sri Lanka	2010	8	8	0	0	30	0	+30	AFC
Syria	2024	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	AFC
Tajikistan	2019	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	AFC
Thailand	1986	2	0	0	2	0	10	−10	AFC
Uzbekistan	1999	3	0	0	3	3	11	−8	AFC
Vietnam	2023	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	AFC
Total	1986	90	44	13	33	215	159	+56	—

Coaching staff

Head coach	Rajendra Tamang
Team Manager	Bindra Dewan
Team Doctor	Jyoti Rai
Assistant coach	Paras Chaudhary
Goalkeeping coach	Binod Maharjan
Fitness coach	Park Min-Jae
Match analyst	Seo Myung-Min
Physiotherapist	Navina Shrestha

Players

Main article: List of Nepal women's international soccer players

Current squad

The following players were called up for a friendly tournament in Nepal between 17 and 26 February 2025.^[7]

Information correct as of 23 February 2025, after the match against  Myanmar

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
16	1GK	Anjila Tumbapo Subba (Captain)	(1996-05-28)28 May 1996 (aged 28)	Nees Atromitou
20	1GK	Anjana Rana Magar	(2002-01-17)17 January 2002 (aged 23)	Nepal Army FC
22	1GK	Usha Nath	(2001-01-23)23 January 2001 (aged 24)	Nepal Police FC
5	2DF	Amrita Jaisi	(1994-10-15)15 October 1994 (aged 30)	Nepal Police FC
12	2DF	Gita Rana	(1996-09-21)21 September 1996 (aged 28)	APF FC
3	2DF	Bimala B.K.	(2002-01-23)23 January 2002 (aged 23)	Nepal Army FC
2	2DF	Puja Rana	(2001-03-28)28 March 2001 (aged 23)	Nepal Police FC
21	2DF	Nisha Thokar	(2001-02-01)1 February 2001 (aged 24)	APF FC
4	2DF	Samikshya Ghimire	(1999-12-26)26 December 1999 (aged 25)	Nepal Police FC
17	2DF	Bimala Chaudhary	(1997-03-01)1 March 1997 (aged 27)	Nepal Army FC
	2DF	Man Maya Damai	(2004-09-13)13 September 2004 (aged 20)	APF FC
11	3MF	Anita Basnet	(1994-02-09)9 February 1994 (aged 31)	APF FC
7	3MF	Renuka Nagarkote	(1995-04-16)16 April 1995 (aged 29)	APF FC
14	3MF	Preeti Rai	(2004-11-20)20 November 2004 (aged 20)	APF FC
8	3MF	Saru Limbu	(1999-03-06)6 March 1999 (aged 25)	APF FC
18	3MF	Sabita Rana Magar	(2003-07-07)7 July 2003 (aged 21)	APF FC
13	3MF	Renuka Hamal		APF FC
	3MF	Sushma Tamang		Waling Municipality FC
9	4FW	Sabitra Bhandari	(1996-05-02)2 May 1996 (aged 28)	EA Guingamp
10	4FW	Rashmi Ghising	(2002-06-15)15 June 2002 (aged 22)	APF FC
19	4FW	Chandra Bhandari (Football Player)		Nepal Army FC
15	4FW	Anita K.C.	(1997-01-05)5 January 1997 (aged 28)	APF FC
13	4FW	Rekha Poudel	(2001-01-07)7 January 2001 (aged 24)	Abu Dhabi Country Club

Recent call-ups

The following footballers were part of a national selection in the past twelve months, but are not part of the current squad.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Sapana Rai				Nepal Police Club	2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
DF	Hira Kumari Bhujel		-	-	APF FC	2024 SAFF Women's ChampionshipINJ
DF	Sabina Chaudhary		-	-		2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
DF	Ganga Gurung					2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
DF	Pratichya Chaudhary				APF FC	2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
MF	Amisha Karki				Nepal Police FC	2024 SAFF Women's ChampionshipINJ
MF	Samjhana Lawati				Nepal Police FC	2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
MF	Anjali Machamache					2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
MF	Dipa Neupane				Nepal Police FC	2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
MF	Saraswati Hamal		-	-		Training camp June 2024
FW	Anushka Sherpa				Nepal Police FC	2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Notable players

• Rama Singh
• Preeti Rai
• Anu Lama
• Jamuna Gurung
• Sajana Rana
• Sabitra Bhandari
• Lila Lamgade

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup record											Qualification record
Year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Outcome	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1991	Did not enter										Did not enter
1995
1999
2003	Withdrew										Withdrew
2007	Did not enter										Did not enter
2011
2015
2019
2023	Did not qualify										The 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup served as the qualifying tournament
2027	To be determined										The 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup will serve as the qualifying tournament
Total	–	0/10	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		Total	–	–	–	–	–	–

Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics record											Qualification record
Year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Outcome	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1996	Did not enter										The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup served as the qualifying tournament
2000											The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup served as the qualifying tournament
2004											Did not enter
2008
2012
2016
2020	Did not qualify										2nd of 3	6	1	3	2	7	10
2024											3rd of 3	2	0	0	2	1	7
2028	To be determined										To be determined
Total	–	0/8	–	–	–	–	–	–	–		Total	8	1	3	4	7	17

AFC Women's Asian Cup

AFC Women's Asian Cup record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1975	Did not enter (No team)
1977
1980
1981
1983
1986	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	0	12	−12	0
1989	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	0	25	−25	0
1991	Did not enter
1993
1995
1997
1999	Group Stage	4	0	0	4	1	30	−29	0
2001	Did not enter
2003
2006
2008
2010
2014
2018
2022	Did not qualify
2026	To be determined
Total	3/20	10	0	0	10	1	67	-66	0

SAFF Women's Championship

SAFF Women's Championship
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
2010	Runners-up	5	4	0	1	34	1	+33	12
2012	Runners-up	5	4	0	1	24	4	+20	12
2014	Runners-up	5	4	0	1	17	6	+11	12
2016	Semi Final	4	3	0	1	19	3	+16	9
2019	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	11	3	+8	9
2022	Runners-up	4	3	0	1	12	1	+11	9
2024	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	19	3	+16	10
Total	7/7	32	24	1	7	136	21	+115	73

South Asian Games

South Asian Games record[8]
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
2010	Silver	5	3	0	2	17	9	+8	9
2016	Silver	5	3	1	1	9	4	+5	10
2019	Silver	4	2	0	2	4	3	+1	6
2026	TBD
Total	3/3	14	8	1	5	30	16	+14	25

WAFF Women's Championship

WAFF Women's Championship
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD
2024	Runners-up	5	4	1	0	17	4	+13
Total	1/1	5	4	1	0	17	4	+13

Other tournaments

Host/Year/Tournament Name	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD
2019 Women's Gold Cup	Runners-up	4	2	0	2	6	7	–1
2019 Nadezhda Cup	Runners-up	4	2	0	2	11	7	+4
2025 International Women's Championship	TBD	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2

Honours

Regional

• SAFF Women's Championship
  • Runners-up: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022

• South Asian Games
  • Runners-up: 2010, 2016, 2019

• WAFF Women's Championship
  • Runners-up: 2024

See also

• Nepal portal
• Sports portal
• Games portal
• Association football portal
• Women's association football portal

• Sport in Nepal
  • Football in Nepal
    • Women's football in Nepal
• All Nepal Football Association
• Nepal women's national under-23 football team
• Nepal women's national under-20 football team
• Nepal women's national under-17 football team
• Nepal national football team
• Nepal national under-20 football team
• Nepal national under-17 football team
• Nepal at the Asian Games

References

1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
2. "NFH – Archived News". Angelfire. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
3. "Off-side: In support of the Nepali women footballers". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
4. Richardson, Andy (5 March 2009). "Nepali football – Sportsworld". Al-Jazeera Sportsworld. Retrieved 4 January 2016 – via YouTube.
5. "FIFA Rankings Nepal Women's National Team". Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
6. "In Pictures: Renovation of Dasarath Rangasala on a war footing". thehimalayantimes.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
7. "Nepal announce final squad for Women's Four Nations Cup". Retrieved 16 February 2025.
8. "South Asian Federation Games (Women's Tournament)". RSSSF. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2018.

External links

• Team profile on the-ANFA.com
• facebook