The latest setback for the men’s national football team of Nepal in the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Asia Cup qualifiers in Dammam,Saudi Arabia was not a surprise.

Nepal went down meekly to formidable United Arab Emirates 0-4 for the second time in the group match. It may be recalled that in the first meeting between the two sides, the Middle East powerhouse triumphed by an identical score. As a matter of fact, taking into account Nepal’s recent string of poor results and performance slump, defeat was inevitable and a foregone conclusion.

As expected the heavily favored United Arab Emirates(UAE) effortlessly prevailed over listless and subdued Nepal. They dictated terms and dominated the proceedings,toying with the opposition throughout the entire match. They played a well coordinated, aggressive,fast paced and pressing game to control exchanges and the match from start to finish. Making the most of the shaky and porous defense,they made scoring look easy as they found the net at regular intervals.

Apart from struggling,Nepal got overwhelmed by the physical, technical and tactical superiority of the opposition. Then,to add to the misery,the offense was lackluster and largely a spent force.They failed to launch a single goal-scoring opportunity throughout. There was little coordination between the offense and midfield.They were unable to hold on to the ball for long,losing the possession easily. The defeat had no bearing on Nepal because they had already exited from the qualifiers with four straight defeats prior to the match.

They take on Yemen in their last group match on June 11th in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. In their home match Nepal had lost to Yemen 0-2 as well.They have another chance to redeem themselves. Whether they can end the qualifiers on a positive note,time will tell. What is true is that they will need a vastly improved and well coordinated performance to succeed.They have to be resilient, stay in the game and not lose themselves.More importantly,they have to perform to the best of their ability.

The competition has been an absolute disaster for Nepal in terms of results and performances.They are winless and last in the group.They have conceded a total of 18 goals and scored zero so far.It tells the whole story. Whether they can end the goal drought against Yemen,we have to wait and see.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that they score. The decline of Nepal football is obvious.The absence of a professional framework,robust infrastructure and facilities,coupled with poor grassroots football development,lack of investment, misgovernance and mismanagement on the part of All Nepal Football Association(ANFA) continues to hurt and stagnant football development.

There will be no end to the sorry plight of Nepal football, frustration,disappointment and setbacks if football continues to head in the wrong direction. I feel sorry for players who have sacrificed their career and dedicated everything to football are victims of the system run by incompetent and unprofessional officials.

By Sushil Thapa, Fairfax,VA, USA