The U-16 national football team on Wednesday (August 6, 2014) left for Belgium for training as Nepal gears up for the AFC U-16 Championship scheduled to begin in Thailand on August 20.
Nepal will also play a friendly match with Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht’s U-16 side during its week-long stay in Belgium. After Belgium, the team is scheduled to tour Qatar for further training and friendlies.
As preparation for the championship, the Nepal team has already visited South Korea for friendly matches with the Korean U-16 National Team, among other clubs.
Nepal has been categorized in Group C of the championship along with Uzbekistan, DPR Korea and Kuwait. A total of 16 teams will be competing for the title.
The top four teams of the AFC U-16 Championship will qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, to be held in Chile next year, according to ANFA.
Nepal qualified for the AFC U-16 Championship as the winner of Group ‘C’ in the AFC U-16 Qualifiers 2013 held at Dasarath Stadium in Kathmandu. Nepal defeated Bahrain 2-0, Turkmenistan 4-0 and played a 2-2 draw against Iraq.
