Nepal's qualification was confirmed only after host Kyrgyzstan beat Jordan 4-1 late Sunday evening in the last match of Group B during the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers that concluded at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.Having gone down 3-1 against Oman in a vital fixture on Sunday, Nepal's hopes of qualifying as the best runner-up depended upon the outcome of the last match between Jordan and Kyrgyzstan. The host produced 4-1 result against Jordan, which proved to be a lifeline for Nepali to qualify.
With the outcomes, Nepal finished Group B as runner-up, with Oman finishing top despite having equal six points to Nepal. Oman toppled Nepal both on head-to-head record and goal difference.
Nepal also became the only team from South Asia to make it to the last 16 besides India, which gained an automatic qualification as the host nation. Nepal had achieved the same feat in the last edition of the tournament as well.
Nepal beat Jordan 2-1 in its opener and came from two goals deficit to beat Kyrgyzstan 4-2 in the second match. Similarly, Oman had overcome Kyrgyzstan 2-0 before going down with the same margin against Jordan. Kyrgyzstan and Jordan finished third and fourth respectively having three points as both the teams won one match each.
According to Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Nepal secured place for the finals as the best fourth runner-up team of the Qualifiers.
The final of the tournament sees the winners of all 11 groups, best four runner-up from among all the groups and host India vie for the Championship. India will host the finals from September 15 to October 2 next year.
Uzbekistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, DPR Korea, Korea Republic, Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates along with India and Nepal have secured places for the finals.
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