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Nepal women's national football team

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

Nepal
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Gorkhali Chelis
AssociationAll Nepal Football Association
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationSAFF (South Asia)
Head coachRajendra Tamang
CaptainAnjila Tumbapo Subba
Most capsAnjila Tumbapo Subba (57)
Top scorerSabitra Bhandari (53)
Home stadiumVarious
FIFA codeNEP
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 99 Increase 4 (6 March 2025)[1]
Highest91 (December 2017)
Lowest119 (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 Nepal
(Hong Kong; 24 December 1989)
 Japan 14–0 Nepal Nepal
(Barotac Nuevo, Philippines; 12 November 1999)
Asian Cup
Appearances3 (first in 1986)
Best resultGroup stage (1986, 1989, 1999)
SAFF Championship
Appearances6 (first in 2010)
Best resultRunners-up (2010, 2012, 2014, 2019,2022, 2024)
Medal record
SAFF Women's Championship
Silver medal – second place 2010 Bangladesh
Silver medal – second place 2012 Sri Lanka
Silver medal – second place 2014 Pakistan
Silver medal – second place 2019 Nepal
Silver medal – second place 2022 Nepal
Silver medal – second place 2024 Nepal
South Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2010 Dhaka Team
Silver medal – second place 2016 Guwahati & Shillong Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Kathmandu & Pokhara Team
Websitethe-anfa.com

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.

History

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Formation

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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

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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

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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

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The Dasharath Rangasala at daytime in 2008

Nicknames

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

Home stadium

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Main article: Dasarath Rangasala 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]

FIFA World Ranking

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As of 13 December 2024[7]
Nepal's FIFA World Ranking History
Year 2003 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
FIFA World Ranking 103 116 116 108 94 107 114 105 91 108 97 92 103 103 105 103
AFC Ranking – 22 23 23 24 21 24 20 22 20 21 16 21 21 20 20

Results and fixtures

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Main article: Nepal women's national football team results

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

2025

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17 February 2025 Vianet Championship GS Nepal    1–0  Kyrgyzstan Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45 Bimala Chaudhary 9' Report Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala
Attendance: 11,516
Referee: Kanika Barman (India)
Player of the Match: Preeti Rai
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)
23 February 2025 Vianet Championship GS Nepal    2–2  Myanmar Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45
Report
Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala
Attendance: 12,605
Player of the Match: Sabitra Bhandari
26 February 2025 Vianet Championship final Myanmar  2–0  Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal
17:30 UTC+5:45 Yu Par Khaing 61'
Win Theingi Tun 63'		 Report Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala
Attendance: 19,580
29 June 2025 (2025-06-29) 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification Laos  v  Nepal
UTC+5
2 July 2025 (2025-07-02) 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification Nepal    v  Sri Lanka
UTC+5
5 July 2025 (2025-07-05) 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification Nepal    v  Uzbekistan
UTC+5

Coaching staff

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As of 27 February 2024

Position Name
Head coach Nepal Rajendra Tamang
Assistant coach Nepal Shyam Manandhar
Nepal Bhagwati Thapa
Goalkeeping coach Nepal Suraj Kumar Lama
Medical officer Nepal Dr. Jyoti Rai
Physiotherapist Nepal Navina Shrestha
Kit manager Nepal Bikash Gurung
Team Official Nepal Bijay Kumar Gupta
Media Manager Nepal Krishna Singh Lothyal

Manager history

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Name Period Achievements
Nepal Dhruba KC 2010 – 2012 2010 SAFF Women's Championship: 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2012 SAFF Women's Championship: 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
Nepal Hari Khadka 2018 – 2019
Australia Gary Phillips As Technical Director[8] 2019 – 2021
Australia Gary Phillips[9] 2021 – 2022
Nepal Kumar Thapa 2022
Nepal Rajendra Tamang [10][11] 2024 – Present 2024 WAFF Women's Championship: 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2024 SAFF Women's Championship: 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2025 International Women's Championship: 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

Players

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Current squad

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The following 23 players were called up for a Vianet Women's Championship in Nepal between 17 and 26 February 2025.[12]

Information correct as of 26 February 2025, after the match against  Myanmar
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
16 1GK Anjila Tumbapo Subba (Captain) (1996-05-28)28 May 1996 (aged 28) 57 0 Greece Nees Atromitou
20 1GK Anjana Rana Magar (2002-01-17)17 January 2002 (aged 23) 3 0 Nepal Nepal Army
22 1GK Usha Nath (2001-01-23)23 January 2001 (aged 24) 1 0 Nepal Nepal Police
5 2DF Amrita Jaisi (1994-10-15)15 October 1994 (aged 30) Nepal Nepal Police
12 2DF Gita Rana (1996-09-21)21 September 1996 (aged 28) 14 2 Nepal APF FC
3 2DF Bimala B.K. (2002-01-23)23 January 2002 (aged 23) Nepal Nepal Army
2 2DF Puja Rana (2001-03-28)28 March 2001 (aged 23) Nepal Nepal Police
21 2DF Nisha Thokar (2001-02-01)1 February 2001 (aged 24) Nepal APF FC
4 2DF Samikshya Ghimire (1999-12-26)26 December 1999 (aged 25) Nepal Nepal Police
17 2DF Bimala Chaudhary (1997-03-01)1 March 1997 (aged 27) Nepal Nepal Army
2DF Man Maya Damai (2004-09-13)13 September 2004 (aged 20) Nepal APF FC
11 3MF Anita Basnet (1994-02-09)9 February 1994 (aged 31) 26 6 Nepal APF FC
7 3MF Renuka Nagarkote (1995-04-16)16 April 1995 (aged 29) 43 0 Nepal APF FC
14 3MF Preeti Rai (2004-11-20)20 November 2004 (aged 20) 5 Nepal APF FC
8 3MF Saru Limbu (1999-03-06)6 March 1999 (aged 25) 20 1 Nepal APF FC
18 3MF Sabita Rana Magar (2003-07-07)7 July 2003 (aged 21) Nepal APF FC
13 3MF Renuka Hamal Nepal APF FC
3MF Sushma Tamang Nepal Waling Municipality
9 4FW Sabitra Bhandari (1996-05-02)2 May 1996 (aged 28) 54 57 France EA Guingamp
10 4FW Rashmi Ghising (2002-06-15)15 June 2002 (aged 22) Nepal APF FC
19 4FW Chandra Bhandari Nepal Nepal Army
15 4FW Anita K.C. (1997-01-05)5 January 1997 (aged 28) Nepal APF FC
13 4FW Rekha Poudel (2001-01-07)7 January 2001 (aged 24) 19 11 United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi Country Club

Recent call-ups

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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 Nepal Police Club 2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
DF Hira Kumari Bhujel - - Nepal APF FC 2024 SAFF Women's ChampionshipINJ
DF Sabina Chaudhary - - Nepal 2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
DF Ganga Gurung Nepal 2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
DF Pratichya Chaudhary Nepal APF FC 2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
MF Amisha Karki Nepal Nepal Police FC 2024 SAFF Women's ChampionshipINJ
MF Samjhana Lawati Nepal Nepal Police FC 2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
MF Anjali Machamache Nepal 2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
MF Dipa Neupane Nepal Nepal Police FC 2024 WAFF Women's ChampionshipPRE
MF Saraswati Hamal - - Nepal Training camp June 2024
FW Anushka Sherpa Nepal 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.

Records

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See also: Category:Nepal women's international footballers

Honours

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Regional

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Appearances (7):2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2024
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up (6): 2010, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022, 2024
Appearances (3):2010, 2016, 2019
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up (3): 2010, 2016, 2019
Appearances (1):2024
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up (1):2024

Competitive record

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FIFA Women's World Cup

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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
China 1991 Did not enter Did not enter
Sweden 1995
United States 1999
United States 2003 Withdrew Withdrew
China 2007 Did not enter Did not enter
Germany 2011
Canada 2015
France 2019
AustraliaNew Zealand 2023 Did not qualify The 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup served as the qualifying tournament
Brazil 2027 To be determined The 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup will serve as the qualifying tournament
Total – 0/10 – – – – – – – Total – – – – – –

Olympic Games

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

AFC Women's Asian Cup

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AFC Women's Asian Cup record
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA GD Pts
Hong Kong 1975 to Thailand 1983 Did not enter (No team)
Hong Kong 1986 Group Stage 3 0 0 3 0 12 −12 0
Hong Kong 1989 Group Stage 3 0 0 3 0 25 −25 0
Japan 1991 to China 1997 Did not enter
Philippines 1999 Group Stage 4 0 0 4 1 30 −29 0
Chinese Taipei 2001 to Jordan 2018 Did not enter
India 2022 Did not qualify
Australia 2026 To be determined
Total 3/20 10 0 0 10 1 67 -66 0

Asian Games

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Asian Games record
Year Round GP W D L GF GA GD
China 1990 did not enter
Japan 1994
Thailand 1998
South Korea 2002
Qatar 2006
China 2010
South Korea 2014
Indonesia 2018
China 2022 Group stage 3 0 1 2 1 11 -10
Japan 2026 TBD – – – – – – –
Total 0/8 — — — — — — —

SAFF Women's Championship

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SAFF Women's Championship
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA GD Pts
Bangladesh 2010 Runners-up 5 4 0 1 34 1 +33 12
Sri Lanka 2012 Runners-up 5 4 0 1 24 4 +20 12
Pakistan 2014 Runners-up 5 4 0 1 17 6 +11 12
India 2016 Semi Final 4 3 0 1 19 3 +16 9
Nepal 2019 Runners-up 4 3 0 1 11 3 +8 9
Nepal 2022 Runners-up 4 3 0 1 12 1 +11 9
Nepal 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

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South Asian Games record[13]
Year Result Pld W D* L GF GA GD Pts
Bangladesh 2010  Silver 5 3 0 2 17 9 +8 9
India 2016  Silver 5 3 1 1 9 4 +5 10
Nepal 2019  Silver 4 2 0 2 4 3 +1 6
Pakistan 2026 TBD
Total 3/3 14 8 1 5 30 16 +14 25

WAFF Women's Championship

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

Other tournaments

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

Head-to-head record

[edit]
As of 27 February 2025, after the match against  Myanmar.
Key
More wins
Equal wins/losses ratio
More losses
Nepal women's national football team head-to-head records
Opponents First played Pld W D L GF GA GD Confederation
 Afghanistan 2010 2 2 0 0 20 1 +19 AFC
 Bangladesh 2010 13 6 5 2 18 9 +8 AFC
 Bhutan 2014 5 4 1 0 27 0 +27 AFC
 Hong Kong 1986 3 0 1 2 0 4 −4 AFC
 India 2010 18 2 5 11 12 39 −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 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 AFC
 Malaysia 2016 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 AFC
 Maldives 2010 6 6 0 0 36 0 +36 AFC
 Myanmar 2018 6 0 2 4 5 14 −9 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
26 Countries 1986 98 46 16 35 235 166 +69 —

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 6 March 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  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. ^ "FIFA NEPAL WOMEN'S RANKING". FIFA. 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Australian national Phillips named ANFA technical director". Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  9. ^ Republica. "Gary Phillips is new head coach of Women's National Football Team". My Republica. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  10. ^ "Rajendra Tamang Appointed Head Coach Of Women's National Football Team". Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  11. ^ "Coach Tamang to lead Nepali women in Four Nations Cup". Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  12. ^ "Nepal announce final squad for Women's Four Nations Cup". Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  13. ^ "South Asian Federation Games (Women's Tournament)". RSSSF. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
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