Kathmandu. The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) has started the closed-camp training for Nepali football team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualification after a long delay caused by the corona pandemic.

ANFA’s spokesperson Kiran Rai  said that the tie-sheet of the World Cup qualifying matches has been published and more delay would affect the Nepali team’s performance adversely. Hence, ANFA has started the training.

Nepal is playing against three countries in the qualifying round after four months as per the schedule. Under Asian qualification in the World Cup, Nepal will contend with Chinese Taipei on March 25, Australia on March 30 and Jordan on June 7, 2021. Nepal has been chosen as the venue for the matches.

ANFA has called 58 players for training. As some national players were found infected with COVID-19, additional players had to be summoned for the training. spokesperson Rai said. The final team for the World Cup Qualifier round would be formed selecting from among the trainees in three phases, he added.

Acting head coach Bal Gopal Maharjan is training the squad at ANFA Complex in Satdobato, Lalitpur.

Nepal is placed in Group ‘B’ along with Australia, Kuwait, Jordan and Chinese Taipei.The chart is topped by  Australia with 12 points, followed by  Kuwait and Jordan in second with 10 points. Nepal is in fourth position with three points, above Chinese Taipei which has not scored a point.