KATHMANDU, Oct 11: The ANFA on Wednesday announced a 23-member Nepali football team for the FIFA World Cup-2026 qualifiers. Nepal will face Laos in the first match of the qualifiers on Thursday, October 12.

Nepali national football team's Head Coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese announced the 23-member team with new players Amrit Shrestha and Sanjeev Bista.

Stating that the match against Laos will be an opportunity for him, Head Coach Annese expressed his belief that the participation of new and energetic youths in the team will deliver well in the tournament. 

Himalayan Sherpa Club's defender Amrit Shrestha and New Road Team's forward Sanjeev Bista were included in the national team for the first time.

Nepal's match against Laos will be held at the Dasharath Stadium in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu at 5:30 pm.

Nepal will play the second match against the same country in Laos next Tuesday on the basis of 'home and away' format. The winning team of this match will qualify for the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers.

National football team’s captain Kiran Chemjong said that they were well prepared to play the match against Laos. The national team includes Kiran Chemjong, Deep Karki and Abhisekh Baral as goalkeepers and Sanish Shrestha, Ananta Tamang, Ashish Gurung, Rohit Chand, Anjan Rai, Ashish Chaudhary and Amrit Shrestha as defenders.

Arik Bista, Sudeep Gurung, Awash Lamichhane, Utsav Rai, Kritish Ratna Chunju and Manish Dangi are mid-fielders while Anjan Bista, Ayush Ghalan, Gillespye Jung Karki, Dinesh Henjan, Hisub Thapaliya and Sanjiv Bista are the forwards.

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