Stats are clear. Iraq are way better than Nepal. They are ranked 68th in FIFA World ranking whereas Nepal is ranked just 171st. 



Nepal have definitely made a brave decision, accepting friendly match request from Iraq FA. And this doesn’t harm Nepal, for sure.



Nepal is playing against strong Australia, Jordan and Chinese Taipei in FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June. Playing against former AFC Asian cup chmpions Iraq before the qualifiers (on May 29, 2021) will give Gorkhali much needed confidence boost-up.



Nepal coach Abdullah Almutairi is a pro licensed coach from Kuwait and he doesn’t fear to prepare the young team because he clearly knows Nepal targets SAFF not Asian cup or FIFA World cup qualifiers. 



Coach Almutairi has just selected a very young team (with an average age of 22). This has surprised many because there are very few experienced players in the team. Goalie Kiran Chemjong, Rohit Chand, Bishal Rai, Ananta Tamanf, Anjan Bista and Dinesh Rajbanshi are the most experienced ones but rest of them are rookies. 

Six of them have made it to the final cut for the first time.

But the points are clear. Coach Almutairi is preparing the team for future. He doesn’t fear the results in the Iraq friendly match and in the FIFA World qualifiers. 

And this experiment may hurt the team for now but the future of Nepalese football looks great. 


Nepal Vs Iraq:

23 Nov 1982 Iraq v Nepal L 3-0 Asian Games
14 Apr 2001 Iraq v Nepal L 9-1 FIFA World Cup
23 Apr 2001 Iraq v Nepal L 4-2 FIFA World Cup