Nepal women's national football team
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2018) |
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| Nickname(s) | Nepali Chelis | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | All Nepal Football Association | ||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Sub-confederation | SAFF (South Asia) | ||
| Head coach | Vacant | ||
| Captain | Vacant[1] | ||
| Most caps | Niru Thapa (42) | ||
| Top scorer | Sabitra Bhandari (38) | ||
| Home stadium | Various | ||
| FIFA code | NEP | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 100  5 (15 March 2024)[2] | ||
| Highest | 92 (December 2009) | ||
| Lowest | 128 (August 2012) | ||
| 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) | |||
| Women's Asian Cup | |||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 1986) | ||
| Best result | Group stage | ||
The Nepal women's national football team, otherwise known as Nepali Cheli's (Nepalese Sisters)[citation needed] is controlled by the All Nepal Football Association and represents Nepal in women's international football competitions. 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
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 (December 14, 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 indefinitely, 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 ugly points for Nepal, who lost every game by a wide margin, the smallest 0-3 against Hong Kong.
Nepal's Soccer Fifa First Vice President Is Kamal Thapa. Nepal's First Woman Captain Is Rama Singh When Nepali Women Football Team Was Created, Mr. Kamal Thapa Was The President Of All Nepal Football Association and the first National Woman Team Captain Is Rama Singh, Who represented bagmati team and she started playing in the year 1985, Second National Women Team Captain Is Kamala Hirachan who is a represented Gandaki Team and the third women captain is, Meera Chaudhary who represented Naryani team, Rama Singh Is Now The First News Reader In Nepali television history, and Meera Chaudhary is in 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 in 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 women national team. This negatively affected player recruitment, but nevertheless Nepal soon returned into 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.[3]
However, this does 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.[4]
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 Games also was the first to host a women's football event as well.[5] 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 Nepalese 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 had performed exceedingly well internationally. 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 regeneration since 2010, the women's side rose 22 places in the FIFA ranking.[6]
Home stadium
The team's home ground are various around the nation also shared with the Nepal national football team at the Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium in central Kathmandu, Nepal. Holding 25,000 spectators, of which 5,000 seated, it is the biggest stadium in Nepal. It is named after Dashrath Chand, one of the martyrs of Nepal. 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.
Coaching staff
 | This section needs to be updated. (October 2018) |
| Head Coach | Hari Khadka[7]
|
| Manager | Bimala Paudel
|
| Officials | Pramila Singh Shrestha
|
| Pravin Kumar Yadav
|
Players
Current squad
The following 20 players were called up for the 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Second Round on 3 April 2019.[8]
Recent callups
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Lila Lamgade | 12 June 1993 | – | – | Nepal Army Club
|
2020 Olympic Qualifiers 1st Round |
| GK | Rupa Rana Magar | - | – | – | APF Club
|
2020 Olympic Qualifiers 1st Round |
| DF | Sunita Chaudhary | – | – | – | Nepal Army Club
|
2019 Women's Gold Cup |
| DF | Ranjana Darji | – | – | – | APF Club
|
2020 Olympic Qualifiers 1st Round |
| DF | Menuka Giri | – | – | – | Nepal Police Club
|
2020 Olympic Qualifiers 1st Round |
| MF | Bimala Chaudhary | – | – | – | Nepal Army Club
|
2019 Women's Gold Cup |
| MF | Dipa Neupane | – | – | – | Nepal Police Club
|
2020 Olympic Qualifiers 1st Round |
| MF | Indira Rai | – | – | – | Nepal Army Club
|
2020 Olympic Qualifiers 1st Round |
| MF | Dipa Adhikari | – | – | – | Nepal Army Club
|
2020 Olympic Qualifiers 1st Round |
| FW | Anu Lama | 3 October 1987 | 19 | 30 | APF Club
|
2019 Women's Gold Cup |
Notable players
-Best goalkeeper of the Year 2013, 2014 and 2015
Recent results and fixtures
Results accurate up to 9 December 2019.[9]
* Nepal score always listed first
Win Draw Loss ,
Competitive record
- *Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
- ***Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Women's World Cup
| FIFA Women's World Cup | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
 1991 |
Did not qualify | ||||||||
 1995
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 1999
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| 2003
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| 2007
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 2011
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 2015
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 2019
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  2023 |
TBD | ||||||||
| Total | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Olympic Games
| Olympic Games | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| 1996 |
Did not enter | |||||||||
| Total | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
AFC Women's Asian Cup
| AFC Women's Asian Cup | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1975 |
Did not enter (No team) | ||||||||
 1977
| |||||||||
 1979
| |||||||||
| 1981
| |||||||||
 1983
| |||||||||
| 1986 |
Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | –12 | 0 |
| 1989 |
Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25 | –25 | 0 |
| 1991 |
Did not enter | ||||||||
 1993
| |||||||||
| 1995
| |||||||||
| 1997
| |||||||||
 1999 |
Round 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 30 | –29 | 0 |
 2001 |
Did not enter | ||||||||
| 2003
| |||||||||
| 2006
| |||||||||
 2008
| |||||||||
| 2010
| |||||||||
| 2014
| |||||||||
 2018
| |||||||||
| 2022 |
To be determined | ||||||||
| Total | 3/20 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 67 | –66 | 0 |
Asian Games
| Asian Games | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| 1990 |
Did not enter | |||||||||
| 1994
| ||||||||||
| 1998
| ||||||||||
 2002
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 2006
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| 2010
| ||||||||||
| 2014
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 2018
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| Total | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
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 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 |
| Total | 5/5 | 22 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 101 | 17 | +84 | 51 |
South Asian Games
| South Asian Games[13] | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Total | 3/3 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 25 | |
Other tournaments
| Host/Year/Tournament Name | Result | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Women's Gold Cup |
Runners-up | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 6 |
See also
- Nepal women's national under-23 football team
- All Nepal Football Association
- Football in Nepal
- Nepal at the Asian Games
- Nepal national football team
- Nepal national under-17 football team
- Nepal national under-20 football team
References
- ^ "Niru Thapa chosen captain of women's national football team". The Himalayan Times. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "NFH - Archived News". www.angelfire.com. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
- ^ "Off-side: In support of the Nepali women footballers". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- ^ Richardson, Andy (5 March 2009). "Nepali football - Sportsworld". Al-Jazeera Sportsworld. Retrieved 4 January 2016 – via YouTube.
- ^ "FIFA Rankings Nepal Women's National Team". Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ "Women's football team to go to China for friendlies". The Himalayan Times. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
- ^ "AFC Olympic Women's Round 2 Qualifiers: ANFA Bides Farewell To Women's Team". GoalNepal. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
- ^ "Fixtures and results". FIFA. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- ^ "2019 Nadezhda Cup". THE HIMALAYAN TIMES. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- ^ a b c "Qualifiers Round 2 draw concluded". AFC. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ "Hero Gold Cup 2019: Khin Moe Wai sinks Nepal as Myanmar win 3-0". Fox Sports Asia. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
- ^ "South Asian Federation Games (Women's Tournament)". RSSSF. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
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