Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Uzbekistan women’s national football team has secured a place in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after a thrilling victory over Nepal in a decisive match that ended in a penalty shootout.

The final group stage match, held on 5 July in Tashkent, ended 3–3 in regular time, with Uzbekistan prevailing 4–2 on penalties.

Uzbekistan had an impressive start to the group stage, recording dominant wins over Sri Lanka (10–0) and Laos (7–0). Nepal mirrored this performance, defeating the same teams 9–0 and 8–0 respectively. As a result, both teams entered the final group match tied on points and goal difference, making the head-to-head clash a decisive showdown.

The home team seized the momentum early. In the 1st minute, after a long-range shot by Feruza Turdiboeva deflected into the path of Diyorakhon Khabibullaeva, she calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1–0. Just ten minutes later, Lyudmila Karachik broke into the penalty area and struck a shot that deflected off Nepali defender Samiksha Ghimire into the net — 2–0.

Despite Uzbekistan’s dominance, Nepal’s star striker Sabitra Bhandari, who plays professionally in France, showed her class. In the 24th minute, after a headed pass from a teammate, she unleashed a powerful strike from outside the box, beating Uzbekistan’s goalkeeper Maftuna Zhonimkulova to make it 2–1.

Uzbekistan restored their two-goal lead in the 39th minute when Maftuna Shoimova converted a penalty awarded for a handball by Saraswati Hamal — 3–1. However, just before halftime, Uzbekistan was reduced to ten players as Nozimakhon Ergashova received a second yellow card and was sent off.

In the second half, Nepal pressed their numerical advantage. Sabitra Bhandari again rose to the occasion, scoring twice in quick succession — in the 71st and 73rd minutes — to level the score at 3–3.

With no further goals in regulation, the match went to penalties. Bhandari missed her spot-kick, hitting the post, while goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar’s effort was easily saved by Zhonimkulova. Uzbekistan converted four penalties to Nepal’s two, sealing a dramatic victory.

With this win, Uzbekistan qualifies for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup final tournament for the first time since 2003.

The final tournament will be held in Australia from 1 to 21 March 2026, with eight teams qualifying through the group stage.