Tajikistan and Nepal will face off in an international friendly in Dushanbe on Wednesday afternoon.
For the visitors, this will be their first fixture since their elimination from World Cup qualifying in the summer, while Tajikistan have kept themselves busy with some international friendly tournaments over the past couple of months.
Match preview
As one of the most-improved nations of the past few years in the AFC confederation, Tajikistan fell short in their hopes of progressing to the third stage of World Cup qualifying during the summer.
After reaching the quarter-final on their Asian Cup debut at the start of 2024, beating UAE in the last 16 and finishing above China and Lebanon in their group, the Crowns will have been hopeful of replicating that form with the ambition of reaching a first World Cup, given its new expanded format.
However, Gela Shekiladze's men fell short, finishing third behind Jordan and Saudi Arabia, failing to advance to the third stage in which Asia's finest will continue with this month.
Since their elimination, the Tajiks played in the Merdeka Cup in Malaysia in September, and the King's Cup in Thailand last month, but underwhelmed slightly in both.
A defeat to Lebanon in the Merdeka Cup saw them play out the third-place playoff, which they won against the Philippines, but the same opponents defeated them 3-0 when they met again in the King's Cup last month.
Confidence will be much higher of claiming a win here over Nepal, a nation they have beaten in all three of their previous meetings - two of which came in Asian Cup qualifying in 2017, and in a friendly a year later.
If Nepal are to compete in this one, they will hope they can avoid conceding three penalties like they did in the 3-0 loss they suffered on their only previous trip to Tajikistan.
Nepal fell at the same hurdle as Tajikistan in World Cup qualifying, but were much less competitive, losing their first five matches without scoring, before a respectable 2-2 draw with Yemen in their final outing.
The Gorkhalis have not played a match of any sort since that draw, and the unfamiliar occurrence of reaching the second round of World Cup qualifying, thanks to beating Laos in the first stage, means friendlies have been few and far between in 2024.
This is just their third friendly of the year, having already lost 5-1 to Malaysia, and 2-0 to an England C team consisting only of players currently plying their trade in the National League, so the visitors will be hopeful of improving on those results here, and against Afghanistan next week.
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Team News
Eleven players have been left out of the Tajikistan squad from the one that competed in the King's Cup last month, but many of their most experienced players remain part of the setup.
All-time top scorer Manuchekhr Dzhalilov will look to add to his international tally of 20, while captain and CSKA Sofia midfielder Parvizdzhon Umarbayev should win his 60th cap.
There have also been plenty of changes in the Nepal squad ahead of this one, with 10 players left out from the squad that rounded off their World Cup qualifying campaign in June, and six uncapped players included.
Goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong, central defender Rohit Chand, midfielder Bharat Khawas and Anjan Bista up front represent an experienced spine in the team though, as the four have 322 caps between them.
Tajikistan possible starting lineup:
Yatimov; Safarov, Nazarov, Dzhuraboyev, Khanonov; Juraboev, Umarbayev, Samiev; Mabatshoev, Dzhalilov, Sharipov
Nepal possible starting lineup:
Chemjong, Chhiring, Lama, Chand, A Limbu; Shrestha, Dangi, Ghalan, Khawas, Gillspye; A Bista
We say: Tajikistan 2-0 Nepal
Tajikistan's ranking of 105 compared to 176 for visitors Nepal suggests the hosts should be heavy favourites to extend their record to four wins from four against their upcoming opponents.
Shekiladze's men performed much better in qualifying, despite elimination, and their run to the Asian Cup quarter-finals could indicate they are a rising force in AFC.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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