Following the back-to-back wins over India and Nepal in the ongoing Women Tri-series 2025 International Friendlies, Iran has successfully been crowned the winner of the tournament. Iran was declared the winner after winning the match against Nepal on Friday by 3-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, following the 2-0 win against India on Tuesday.
Let’s take a deep look at the Women Tri-series 2025 in brief.
Women Tri-Series 2025: Iran Declared Winner
In the recently concluded friendly Women Tri-series 2025 between Iran, India, and Nepal, Iran was crowned the champions of the tournament after they registered two back-to-back wins over India and Nepal on Tuesday and Friday. In the match held in Shillong, India, Iran dominantly won the match against Nepal by 3-0, finishing at the top of the points table with six points, securing the title even before the final match between Nepal and India.
The Women Tri-series 2025 championship match was a tie between Iran and Nepal until the first half, but in the second half, Iran scored 3 goals to 0 in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium of Shillong to win the game in dominant fashion. Following the goalless first half, Iran burst into life when they scored three consecutive goals within a period of nine minutes in the second half. Substitute Sara Didar scored the opening goal in the 49th minute after receiving a long pass from goalkeeper Raha Yazdani and finished a goal with a calm finish past Nepali goalkeeper Anjila Tumbapo Subba.
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Three minutes later, the Iranian captain, Zahra Ghanbari, scored the second goal with an excellent free kick that curled and went over the protection and hit the top corner of the goal. The third goal was scored in the 57th minute of the game, when Shabnam Behesht struck a devastating left-footed shot from 20 yards, leading Iran to win the game in an unexpected way.
However, in the first half of the Women Tri-series 2025, Nepal began the match with a solid defense and kept Iran, who is ranked 70th globally, at bay. They, however, lost momentum after the first half, allowing Iran to take control of the ball and exploit the mistakes of defense. Nepal had obviously lost its star defender, Gita Rana, who was out of action with a shoulder injury. Sabitra Bhandari and Preeti Rai tried, but Nepal failed to reach the back of the net.
Indian Football on X: “Nepal 🇳🇵 0️⃣-3️⃣ 🇮🇷 IR Iran IR Iran bag their second win in the Women’s Tri-Nation friendlies in Shillong ✅ #NEPIRN”
Nepal 🇳🇵 0️⃣-3️⃣ 🇮🇷 IR Iran
IR Iran bag their second win in the Women’s Tri-Nation friendlies in Shillong ✅#NEPIRN pic.twitter.com/4zyhO4bAHB
— Indian Football (@IndianFootball) October 24, 2025
This victory gave Iran a flawless campaign as they had defeated host India 2-0 in their first match. That is because the Iranian players won the trophy in the end, and this was a sign of their remarkable performance during the tournament.
For Nepal, the tournament was their first international football in three months. Although they lost, it was a valuable experience as they sought to recover under an interim coach, Nabin Neupane. Nepal and India will continue to play one final match on the 27th of October in the Women Tri-series 2025 event, followed by another friendly match which will be held on the 30th of October in Sikkim.
Amit Mishra’s Perspective
From a writer’s perspective, it was a great experience to cover the Women Tri-series 2025. The fact that the female team of Iran was able to triumph over India and Nepal clearly demonstrated how much female football is emerging in Asia. Their collaboration, particularly the three goals in a short period against Nepal, showed that they were strong and strategic. In the cases of Nepal and India, the outcome was not in their favor, but the tournament taught them a lot of lessons and experience for the future.
It was a motivating experience as a writer because it was very encouraging to see such power and sportsmanship of all teams, and this made me realize that female football in South Asia is gaining momentum, with the best yet to be witnessed.
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