Kathmandu, October 17:

Nepal squandered their 14th minute lead to lose 2-3 against Bahrain in the AFC Under-16 Championship Qualification Tournament held in Tehran on Wednesday.

Nirajan Malla had put the Nepali side ahead early in the 14th minute but Bahrain drew level five minutes later through Hasan Jaid. Jaid gave the Bahrain the lead scoring from the spot kick in the 63rd minute before Mahammed Adil made it 3-1 two minutes into the second half injury time. Sabindra Shrestha reduced the margin for the Nepali team with a strike a minute later.

Besides Bahrain, Nepal are drawn in tough Group B along with hosts Iran, Jordan, Kuwait and Afghanistan. Nepal will next play Jordon on October 20, Afghanistan on October 22, Kuwait on October 25 and Iran on October 28.

The 45 Asian countries are divided into eight groups and the winners and runners-up of the seven groups will qualify for the finals along with the winner of the three-team Group H, which comprises Korea Republic, Thailand and Chinese Taipei. The hosts nation of the the AFC U-16 Championship, which is yet to be finalised, will automatically qualify for the finals.