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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.
 | |||
| 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 (46) | ||
| Top scorer | Sabitra Bhandari (53) | ||
| Home stadium | Various | ||
| FIFA code | NEP | ||
| |||
| 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) | ||
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Formation
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
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]
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Nicknames
The Nepal women's national football team has also been known as the "Nepali Chelis".
Home stadium
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]
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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
| 20 February 2024 2024 WAFF Women's Championship | Nepal | 4–1 |  Syria | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| 17:00 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City Reserve Stadium Referee: Doumouh Al Bakkar (Lebanon) |
| 22 February 2024 2024 WAFF Women's Championship | Iraq  | 0–5 | Nepal | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| 17:00 UTC+3 | Report | Bhandari  14', 15', 36', 43', 79' |
Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City Reserve Stadium Referee: Haneen Murad (Jordan) |
| 24 February 2024 2024 WAFF Women's Championship | Palestine  | 0–4 | Nepal | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| 20:00 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City Reserve Stadium Referee: Ahmed Saad (Bahrain) |
| 27 February 2024 2024 WAFF Championship SF | Nepal | 2–1 |  Lebanon | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| 20:00 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Stadium: Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Referee: Ahmed Saad (Bahrain) |
| 29 February 2024 2024 WAFF Women's Championship F | Jordan  | 2–2 (5–3 p) | Nepal | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| 19:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report | Stadium: Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Referee: Mohamed Juma (Bahrain) | |
| Penalties | ||||
|
||||
| 18 October 2024 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) |
| 21 October 2024 SAFF Championship GS | Nepal | 11–0 |  Maldives | Kathmandu, Nepal |
| 17:30 UTC+5:45 | Report | Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Attendance: 6,671 Referee: Y.A. Pabasara Minisaraniyapa (Sri Lanka) |
| 24 October 2024 SAFF Championship GS | Nepal | 6–0 |  Sri Lanka | Kathmandu, Nepal |
| 17:30 UTC+5:45 | Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala |
| 27 October 2024 2024 SAFF W SF | Nepal | 1–1 (4–2 p) |  India | Kathmandu, Nepal |
| 18:30 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Dashrath Stadium Attendance: 18,009 Referee: Om Choki (Bhutan) |
| Penalties | ||||
| 30 October 2024 2024 SAFF W F | Bangladesh  | 2–1 | Nepal | Kathmandu, Nepal |
| 17:45 BST (UTC+6) | Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala |
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- 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 | |
| Bangladesh |
2010 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 7 | +10 | |
| Bhutan |
2014 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 0 | +23 | |
 Hong Kong |
1986 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | |
| India |
2010 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 38 | −27 | |
 Indonesia |
1986 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 15 | −13 | |
 Iran |
2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | |
| Iraq |
2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | |
| Japan |
1989 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 36 | −36 | |
| Jordan |
2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
 Kuwait |
2013 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | |
 Kyrgyzstan |
2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | |
| Lebanon |
2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | |
 Malaysia |
2016 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | |
| Maldives |
2010 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | +36 | |
 Myanmar |
2018 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | −7 | |
 Pakistan |
2010 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | +29 | |
| Palestine |
2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | |
 Philippines |
1999 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | |
 Qatar |
2013 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | |
| Sri Lanka |
2010 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | +30 | |
| Syria |
2024 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | |
 Tajikistan |
2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | |
 Thailand |
1986 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | −10 | |
 Uzbekistan |
1999 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | −8 | |
 Vietnam |
2023 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | |
| Total | 1986 | 89 | 43 | 13 | 33 | 214 | 159 | +55 |
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As of 24 October 2024
| Head Coach | Rajendra Tamang |
| Assistant Coach | Paras Chaudhary |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Suraj Kumar Lama |
| Physio | Navina Shrestha |
Current squad
- The following player was called-up for 2024 SAFF Women's Championship in October 2024.[7]
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Anjila Tumbapo Subba (Captain) | 28 May 1996 (aged 27) |  Nees Atromitou | |||
| GK | Anjana Rana Magar | 17 January 2002 (aged 22) | Nepal Army FC | |||
| GK | Usha Nath | 23 January 2001 (aged 23) | Nepal Police FC | |||
| DF | Gita Rana | 21 September 1996 (aged 27) | Sethu FC | |||
| DF | Amrita Jaisi | 15 October 1994 (aged 29) | Sports Odisha | |||
| DF | Samikshya Ghimire | 26 December 1999 (aged 24) | Nepal Police FC | |||
| DF | Nisha Thokar | 1 February 2001 (aged 23) | APF FC | |||
| DF | Puja Rana | 29 March 2001 (aged 22) | Nepal Police FC | |||
| DF | Bimala B.K. | 17 April 2002 (aged 21) | Nepal Army FC | |||
| DF | Hira Kumari Bhujel | 26 December 1995 (aged 28) | APF FC | |||
| DF | Sajani Thokar | | ||||
| MF | Renuka Nagarkote | APF FC | ||||
| MF | Dipa Shahi | Kickstart FC | ||||
| MF | Preeti Rai | 20 November 2004 (aged 19) | Kickstart FC | |||
| MF | Saru Limbu | 6 March 1999 (aged 24) | APF FC | |||
| FW | Sabita Rana Magar | 7 July 2003 (aged 20) | APF FC | |||
| MF | Anita Basnet | 9 February 1994 (aged 30) | Lords FA | |||
| MF | Amisha Karki | 23 October 2005 (aged 18) | Nepal Army FC | |||
| MF | Bimala Chaudhary | 1 March 1997 (aged 26) | Nepal Army FC | |||
| FW | Rashmi Ghising | 15 June 2002 (aged 21) | Sports Odisha | |||
| MF | Anita K.C. | 5 January 1997 (aged 27) | Kickstart FC | |||
| FW | Sabitra Bhandari | 2 May 1996 (aged 27) |  EA Guingamp | |||
| FW | Rekha Poudel | 7 January 2001 (aged 23) |  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 | 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 | Samjhana Lawati | Nepal Police FC |
2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE | |||
| MF | Anjali Machamache | |
2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE | |||
| MF | Manmaya Damai | APF FC |
2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE | |||
| MF | Dipa Neupane | Nepal Police FC |
2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE | |||
| MF | Chandra Bhandari | - | - | Nepal Army FC |
Training camp June 2024 | |
| MF | Saraswati Hamal | - | - | |
Training camp June 2024 | |
| FW | Anushka Sherpa | Nepal Police FC |
2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE | |||
INJ Withdrew due to injury | ||||||
Notable players
Regional
- WAFF Women's Championship
- Runners-up: 2024
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- ***Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.
FIFA Women's World Cup
Olympic Games
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 |
| 2024 | 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 |
- Sport in Nepal
- Football in Nepal
- Women's football in Nepal
- 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
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