Manama, Bahrain: Qatar U20 national team defeated Nepal 3-1 in their opening game in Group B of the AFC U20 Asian Cup qualifiers, at the Sheikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium in Manama, getting off to a perfect start in their campaign to reach the AFC U20 Asian Cup 2023 in Uzbekistan. Qatar’s goals were scored by Muhammad Mansour (30’), Mohammed Siraj (45+2’) and Rashid Al-Abdullah (60’), while Nepal's lone goal came from a mistake by goalkeeper Amir Hassan, who was unable to control a back-pass by his colleague Jassem Al-Sharshani (76’). Al-Annabi completed the match with ten players after Mohamed Siraj was sent off in the 70th minute, as a result of receiving a second booking. The second match in the same group on Monday also saw Bangladesh beat Bhutan 2-1 at the same stadium. Bangladesh topped the group's standings with 4 points from two matches, compared to 3 points each for Qatar (2nd), Bhutan (3rd) and Bahrain (4th), while Nepal remained in fifth and last place with no points. The third round of the group will be played on Wednesday, with Qatar facing off with Bhutan, and Bahrain playing Nepal. On Saturday, the first round games saw Bhutan beat Nepal 2-0, while Bangladesh drew 0-0 with Bahrain. The first-placed team in each group will qualify for the finals, along with the five best second-placed teams in the ten groups, to join the hosts Uzbekistan.