After the final league match between Dhangadhi FC and FC Chitwan, all four teams advancing to the Nepal Super League playoffs have been confirmed, along with the playoff fixtures.
Defending champions Lalitpur City FC, last season’s runner-up Dhangadhi FC, and Pokhara Thunders have secured their spots in the playoffs.
Dhangadhi and Lalitpur City FC, finishing in the top two, will face each other in Qualifier 1. The winner of this match will advance directly to the final. The losing team will still get another chance in Qualifier 2.
FC Chitwan, who reached the playoffs for the first time, will play against Pokhara Thunders in the eliminator match on April 20. The winner of this match will move on to Qualifier 2, while the losing team will be eliminated.
Qualifier 2, between the winner of the eliminator and the loser of Qualifier 1, will take place on April 23. The final match is scheduled for April 26.
Teams to reach playoffs
Lalitpur City FC
Lalitpur City FC began their title defence campaign with a 2-2 draw against Kathmandu Rayzrs in their opening match. Maintaining an unbeaten run throughout the league stage, Lalitpur won 3 matches and played 3 draws.
In their first three matches, Lalitpur secured 1 win and 2 draws. In the latter three matches, they earned 2 wins and 1 draw. They claimed their first victory in the second match by defeating Pokhara Thunders 3-2. However, in the third match, they were held to a goalless draw by Dhangadhi FC.
After defeating FC Chitwan 2-1 in the fourth match, Lalitpur boosted their playoff hopes. They then secured a playoff spot one game early by beating Butwal Lumbini FC 2-0 in their fifth match.
With favourable results from other matches, Lalitpur confirmed their spot in Qualifier 1 before their final match, allowing them to play without pressure against Jhapa FC. The final match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Dhangadhi FC
Last season’s runner-up, Dhangadhi FC, remained unbeaten until their final league match. However, their five-match unbeaten run came to an end with a defeat against FC Chitwan in the last game.
In this season, Dhangadhi won 3 matches, played 2 draws, and lost 1.
With Dhangadhi’s loss, Lalitpur City FC became the only unbeaten team of the season.
Dhangadhi made a strong start by thrashing Butwal Lumbini FC 4-1 in their opening match, raising expectations that they would maintain that momentum. However, they were held to goalless draws in the following two matches.
The back-to-back goalless draws against Lalitpur City and Pokhara Thunder put some pressure on the team. But they bounced back in the fourth match with a 3-1 win over Kathmandu Rayzrs. Despite falling behind by one goal, Dhangadhi made a comeback. Thanks to a brilliant hat-trick from Ahmad Hijazi.
They then secured a playoff spot by defeating Jhapa FC 1-0.
In the final match, Dhangadhi fielded a second-choice squad to give all players an opportunity. They even took an early lead, but couldn’t hold onto it and ended up losing 3-1 to Chitwan.
With that, Dhangadhi’s five-match unbeaten streak in the league also came to an end.
FC Chitwan
This season, FC Chitwan aimed to reach the playoffs for the first time by building a strong squad, and they had a fantastic start, winning their first two matches back-to-back.
However, after being held to a draw in their third match, Chitwan lost momentum and went on to suffer two consecutive defeats.
Chitwan began their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Pokhara Thunders, followed by a 1-0 win against Butwal Lumbini FC.
In their third match, Chitwan had taken the lead against Jhapa FC and were close to securing a win, but a penalty conceded during injury time forced them to settle for a draw.
Things took a downturn after that. In the fourth match, they lost 2-1 to Lalitpur City FC, and in the fifth, they were defeated 2-0 by Kathmandu Rayzrs.
As a result, Chitwan had to wait until their final game to determine their playoff fate.
Since all other league matches had already concluded, Chitwan needed at least a win or a draw against Dhangadhi FC in their final match to secure a playoff spot.
Dhangadhi fielded their second-choice squad, giving Chitwan an opportunity. Although Dhangadhi took an early lead, Chitwan made a strong comeback and secured a 3-1 win, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in the club’s history.
Pokhara Thunders
Despite a poor start to the season, Pokhara Thunders made a strong comeback and became the third team to reach the playoffs. After losing their first two matches, Pokhara remained unbeaten in the next four games, collecting 8 points to secure their playoff spot.
They were under pressure early on after suffering a 2-0 loss to FC Chitwan in their opening match and a 3-2 defeat to Lalitpur City FC in the second.
However, Pokhara bounced back with a 2-0 win over Kathmandu Rayzrs. They then played a goalless draw against Dhangadhi FC, followed by a 1-1 draw against Jhapa FC, which made their path to the playoffs slightly more challenging.
But in the final match, Pokhara sealed their place in the playoffs for the second consecutive season with a 2-0 win.
