The Nepal national senior men's football team is all set to play a friendly match against the stronger ASEAN side Malaysia ahead of the FIFA world cup qualifiers on March. As a preparatory game ahead of the FIFA World Cup & AFC Asian Cup Joint Qualification kicking off from the last week of this march175th ranked Nepal & 132nd ranked Malaysia are facing each other.
The 132nd ranked Malaysia has commenced thier training camp at Wisma FAM, Kelana Jaya under the stewardship of the South Korean head coach Kim Pan Gol. The Malaysian tigers focus is set on the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup & 2027 AFC Asia Cup Qualifiers matches against Oman, scheduled for March 21 and 26. Meanwhile Nepal too has started their closed camp at ANFA Complex Satdobato as they are scheduled to play against the another uprising force Bahrain in the 21st and 26th of this March in a neutral and away fixtures.
Nepal vs Malaysia Football Match Details & fixtures
The match between Nepal and Malaysia will kick of at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Malaysia on the 15th of the March confirmed by the Malaysian Football Federation. As the FIFA windows have the provision of matches between 18-26 march, the Nepal vs Malaysia encounter will be an unofficial friendly to be played out of the FIFA matchday.
Nepal encounter against the uprising Asian powerhouse
Malaysia & Bahrain are the participants of the recently concluded AFC Asian Cup 2024 concluded in Qatar. Both of these had a wonderful run in the competition. Malaysia playing a 3-3 draw against the bigger side South Korea & Bahrain getting thier first historic run to the round of 16 are the two note able stories of the competition.
Surprisingly both Malaysia and Bahrain competed under the same group D where Bahrain passed to the round of 16 topping the group table. Regardless the famous 3-3 draw against South Korea, Malaysia lost all of thier matches in the competition.
Two formidable forces seeking for the spot in the 2026 FIFA WC
Leading Group D with a perfect six-point record, Malaysia secured victories over Republic of Kyrgyz (4-3) and Chinese Taipei (1-0) on November 16 and 21, 2023, respectively, at their home fixtures National Stadium, Bukit Jalil. They will face Oman in a double header match after concluding a practice match against the Gokhali sides.
Bahrain currently sitting on second position in the group H holds 3 points after a 2-0 win over Yemen in the qualifiers back. Looking for a clear straight 6 points against the weaker side Nepal, Bahrain want to over throw the another powerhouse UAE.
Nepal loosing thier home fixtures due to ANFA's negligence
After a negligence from ANFA & National Sports Council, Nepal is compelled to lost thier important home fixture match on 21st march against Bahrain. Looking at the poor pitch condition of the only international football stadium Dsharath Stadium, Bahrain put up thier concern to the AFC that they couldn't send thier team to play in such risky field. As a result an inspection from the AFC delegates suggest to put out the match away from Nepal.
Both Bahrain and Nepal are contemplating playing their upcoming matches in the Kingdom, with logistical issues affecting the venue in Nepal. The Bahrain Football Association has proposed hosting the game originally set for Kathmandu, and the All Nepal Football Association is in agreement, pending approval from the Asian Football Confederation.
Nepal's 33 men's preliminary squad against Bahrain
The Nepal National Men's Football team Head coach Vincenzo Alberto Annesse has been training his thirty-three players as the preliminary squad for the upcoming second round matches of World Cup Qualifiers against Bahrain from 4th March.
Goalkeepers: Abhishek Baral, Bishal Sunar, Deep Karki, Kiran Chemjong
Defenders: Ajay Chaudhary, Ananta Tamang, Anjal Maharjan, Bimal Panday, Bishal Basnet, Chhiring Lama, Dipendra BK, Rohit Chand, Sanish Shrestha, Sumit Shrestha, Yogesh Gurung
Midfielders: Arik Bista, Bishal Tamang, Kritish Ratna Chhunju, Laken Limbu, Mani Kumar Lama, Manish Dangi, Rohan Karki, Santosh Khatri, Suraj Jeu Thakuri, Utsab Rai
Forwards: Anjan Bista, Ayush Ghalan, Dinesh Henjan, Gillespye Jung Karki, Hisub Thapaliya, Rajesh Pariyar, Sameer Tamang, Sanjeeb Bista
