Nepal will be hoping to get off the mark in Group H of Asia's Word Cup qualifying when they host Bahrain on Thursday.
The visitors were beaten by United Arab Emirates in their last qualifying game, so will be desperate to return to winning ways.
Match preview
Nepal overcame Laos 2-1 on aggregate to reach the second round of Asian qualifying, but the nation will be fully aware that their journey is likely to end at this stage.
The Gorkhalis are the 12th-lowest ranked country in Asia, coming in at 175th in the world in FIFA's latest world rankings. They have never qualified for an Asian Cup, so it is no surprise that they have never come close to reaching the World Cup either since playing their first official international match against China in 1972.
Vincenzo Annese's side were beaten 4-0 away to UAE in their opening qualifying game in November, before losing 2-0 at home to Yemen last time out. The match appeared to be heading for a stalemate until Omar Al-Dahi broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute before Mohammed Abdullah Al-Dahi wrapped things up in the last minute of normal time.
Annese and his players now have a double header against Bahrain to look forward to, but they must avoid consecutive defeats if they are to avoid being eliminated with two games to spare.
© Reuters
Bahrain, meanwhile, are coming into these fixtures off the back of reaching the last 16 at the Asian Cup in January. Despite topping a group for the first time in their history at an Asian Cup, they parted ways with their head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi a few days after losing to Japan.
Dragan Talajic, who had served as Bahrain's technical director since 2022, has taken Pizzi's place. The former Al Ittihad boss' attention will now firmly be fixated on helping Bahrain reach the World Cup for the first time in their history, having come within one playoff match of doing so when losing to Trinidad and Tobago in 2006 and New Zealand in 2010.
Asia will benefit from eight automatic qualifying spots for the extended World Cup in 2026, so Bahrain's chances have never been greater. Dilmun's Warriors are the 12th-highest ranked nation in Asia, and comfortably the second highest in Group H, so they should be reaching the final stage of qualifying at the very least.
With UAE twice facing Yemen - who are level on points with Bahrain after two matches - there is every chance that Bahrain will have one foot in the third round this time next week, but they must do their own job against Nepal first and foremost.
Team News
© Reuters
Having failed to score in their opening two matches, Nepal's hopes of doing so against Bahrain will largely rest on Anjan Bista's shoulders. The 25-year-old, who plays for Fortis FC in Bangladesh, is his nation's joint-record goalscorer so would move out on his own with his next international strike.
Only two other players in Nepal's squad have ever scored for their country, while captain Kiran Chemjong will be left one short of reaching 100 caps should he start in goal against Bahrain in both games as expected.
Bahrain, on the other hand, have four players who are in double figures in terms of goals scored for their country, while captain Mohamed Husain is the nation's record cap holder on 161 and counting.
As the only player competing in Europe domestically, Abdulla Yusuf Helal is perhaps the star of Talajic's squad, having played for Slavia Prague before moving to Mlada Boleslav last year.
Nepal possible starting lineup:
Chemzong; Shrestha, Chand, Tamang, Chaudhary; Aangdembe, Rai, Bista; Bista, Karki, Henjan
Bahrain possible starting lineup:
Lutfalla; Hasan, Baqer, Al Hayam, Ali; Madan, Al-Shaikh, Al-Hardan, Al Aswad, Marhoon; Yusuf
We say: Nepal 0-2 Bahrain
Bahrain have come agonisingly close to qualifying for the World Cup on a couple of occasions within the past two decades, and have consistently punched above their weight at recent Asia Cups.
Nepal, on the other hand, are clearly minnows at this stage of qualifying and may struggle to score a single goal across six matches. We expect a comfortable victory for the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Iran
Kyrgyzstan
North Korea
Qatar
UAE
Uzbekistan
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
Palestine
South Korea
Australia
Bahrain
China
Indonesia
Japan
Saudi Arabia
