Nepal suffers heavy defeat to Bahrain in FIFA World Cup qualifiers

KATHMANDU: Nepal's hopes took a hit as they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Bahrain in the joint qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

The match, held this morning at the Bahrain National Football Stadium in Riffa, witnessed Bahrain dominating proceedings with a convincing 5-0 victory.

With this win, Bahrain secures their second victory in the qualifiers, accumulating six points and securing the second position in the standings.

However, it was a tough blow for Nepal, marking their third consecutive defeat in the qualifiers and leaving them without any points on the board. Nepal had previously faced defeats against UAE and Yemen in Group 'H'.

Goals from Mehdi Al-Humaidan, Syed Nasser, Ali Madan, Ibrahim Al-Khatal, and Ismail Abdulatif contributed to Bahrain's commanding win. Humaidan struck early, opening the scoring in the second minute, followed by Syed doubling the lead in the ninth minute.

Abdulatif sealed Bahrain's victory with a penalty shootout goal in the dying moments of the match.

In Group 'H', UAE leads the standings with nine points, while Yemen holds third place with three points earned from a single win in three games played so far.