KATHMANDU, Aug 28: Nepal suffered a 4-1 defeat to Bangladesh in the final of the SAFF U-20 Championship 2024 held at the ANFA Complex Ground in Satdobato, Lalitpur, on Wednesday.
With this loss, Nepal missed the opportunity to win the title for the third time, while Bangladesh won the SAFF U-20 title for the first time.
Bangladesh took the lead with a goal in the first minute of injury time in the first half. Mirazul Islam scored for Bangladesh with an incredible free kick, which was awarded after Niraj Karki fouled Mirazul. After taking the lead, Bangladesh kept hosts Nepal under continuous pressure at the beginning of the second half.
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Mirazul added another goal by heading the ball in from six yards in the 55th minute. Bangladeshi player Rabby Hussane added another goal to make it 3-0 in the 71st minute with a strike from inside the box.
Nepal scored a consolation goal from Samir Tamang in the 81st minute, but it was too late to turn the game around.
Nepal, desperate to get back into the game, made several goal attempts during the 10-minute injury time in the second half but to no avail.
Earlier, Nepal missed some good opportunities in the first half. In the ninth minute, Nirajan Dhami's long shot was barely saved by Mohammad Asif of Bangladesh. Similarly, in the 30th minute, Seemanth Thapa's free kick went over the bar, and in the 31st minute, another shot by Nirajan from outside the box missed the net by inches.
Nepal had previously won the SAFF U-20 Championship titles in 2015 and 2017. Bangladesh, who had been runners-up three times earlier, won the title on their fourth attempt, having previously finished as runners-up in 2017, 2019, and 2022.
