Nepal Out of AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 After Penalty Shootout Loss

Nepal’s national women’s football team has been knocked out of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers in the group stage after losing to Uzbekistan in a dramatic penalty shootout.

The final Group F match ended 3-3 after 90 minutes of regular play, pushing the game into penalties, where Nepal lost 4-2.

Gita Rana and Sabita Rana Magar scored for Nepal in the shootout. However, captain Sabitra Bhandari (Samba) and goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar missed their shots, resulting in Nepal’s defeat.

Uzbekistan started the match aggressively, scoring their first goal in just the second minute. In the 11th minute, they doubled their lead through an own goal by Nepal’s Samikshya Ghimire, who deflected the ball into the net while trying to block a shot from the Uzbek captain.

Sabitra gave Nepal hope in the 24th minute with a powerful strike from outside the box to make it 2-1. But in the 38th minute, Uzbekistan got a penalty after Nepali defender Saraswati Hamal was called for a handball. Shoimova converted it, giving Uzbekistan a 3-1 lead.

In the second half, Nepal made a strong comeback. Uzbekistan was reduced to 10 players after Igrasheva received a red card for a rough tackle on Sabitra.

Sabitra scored her second goal in the 71st minute to make it 3-2, and just two minutes later, she completed her hat-trick to level the game 3-3. Despite the thrilling comeback, Nepal’s dream of advancing ended in heartbreak after the penalty loss.