Nepal’s national women’s football team suffered a 3–0 defeat against Iran in their first match of the Three Nations Cup held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, India, on Friday. This was their first encounter after six years.
The two teams had last met in the 2019 Hero Gold Cup in India, where Nepal had defeated Iran 3–0 with two goals from Sabitra Bhandari and one from Anita Basnet. However, this time Iran took revenge by securing a victory with the same scoreline.
With this win, Iran remained unbeaten in the tournament and clinched the title. Earlier, Iran had defeated hosts India 2–0 in the opening match. Sara Didar, who scored both goals in that match, provided the breakthrough against Nepal as well.
Both teams played a goalless first half, but Iran came back strongly in the second half, scoring three goals within 12 minutes. Sara Didar opened the scoring in the 49th minute. Just three minutes later, Zahra Ghanbari doubled the lead. In the 57th minute, Sabanam Beheshit scored the third goal, sealing Iran’s victory.
Nepal will now face host nation India on Monday in search of a consolation win.
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