ANFA Chooses Belgian Coach Patrick De Wilde to Lead Nepal Women's Team onto the World Stage

Kathmandu, June 6 -- On Thursday, the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) named Belgian national Patrick De Wilde as the new head coach for Nepal's women's national football team.

Wilde has over 20 years of experience with successes in national and international football. He also has a Bachelor's in Sports Education and Pedagogy.

In 1999, he started his coaching journey in Belgium with one of their club competitions. In 2007, he ventured overseas for the first time to coach at FC Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine until its unfortunate bankruptcy in 2015.

Ukraine provided Wilde with access to various regions around the globe. In the 2008/09 season, he went back to Belgium to guide K.S.K. Beveren as their coach. However, during the 2010/11 period, he was in China assisting Tianjin Songjiang achieve promotion to the second division.

In the 2011/12 season, he served as the head coach for FC Red Bull Salzburg’s U18 team, followed by coaching FC Lifering's U23 side the subsequent year. In the 2013/14 period, he made his way to Tunisia’s premier division, only to return to Belgium during the 2015/16 campaign.

In 2016, Wilde's initial assignment as a national coach was with Algeria, where he took charge of both their A team and Under-23 squad. Later, in 2018, he coached the Hungary A side. In 2021, his role shifted to that of a technical director for Lithuania. Additionally, he served as an assistant for the Chinese U23 team during the previous year’s Asian Cup.

Recently, Wilde took on a coaching position with the Kathmandu Rayzrs FC during the third season of the Nepal Super League in Nepal.

It is anticipated that his previous experiences within the country will provide him with an edge as he moves into the national position.

The appointment was recommended by ANFA's coach selection committee and comes ahead of Nepal's participation in the AFC Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers. Under Wilde's leadership, Nepal will compete in Group F against Uzbekistan, Laos and Sri Lanka. Further, Nepal wants to participate in the World Cup by 2031.

Wilde becomes only the second head coach to officially take charge of the women's national side. He received his appointment letter from ANFA general secretary Kiran Rai on Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Rai highlighted the strategic importance of the appointment. "With the AFC Qualifiers approaching, we needed someone familiar with the local football ecosystem," he said. "Wilde brings both international experience and local understanding."

Additional specifics about Wilde's agreement, such as its length and monetary conditions, have not been made public. The official announcement revealing him as the head coach to the press will take place on Friday during an event where he will outline his vision for the national women's team.