Kathmandu: Nepal has decided to play friendly football match with Iraq. The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) said on Thursday that it has decided to play a friendly match against the Asian Cup winning nation of Iraq on May 29.
Three days ago, the Iraqi Football Association had made public the news about playing friendly football match with Nepal. However, ANFA said that the final decision on playing a friendly game was yet to be made and that homework was being done. On Thursday, ANFA said that they are sure to play a friendly game.
The match will be played on May 29 at Basra International Stadium. This will be the first game of Nepal’s new coach Abdullah Almutairi.
Iraq, which is preparing for the World Cup and Asia Cup qualifiers, had offered to play a friendly match with Nepal.
In the FIFA rankings, Iraq is ranked 68th and Nepal is ranked 171st.
Iraq, who are in Group C of the World Cup qualifiers, are top of the group with 11 points from three games, including three wins and two draws. The same group includes Iran, Bahrain, Hong Kong and Cambodia.
Similarly, Nepal in Group B is in the fourth position with one win and four losses. Nepal has Australia, Jordan, Kuwait and Chinese Taipei in the group. Nepal has three games left to play in the selection.