Abhishek Rijal (; born 29 January 2000) is a Nepali professional footballer who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Aizawl FC Aizawl Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Aizawl, Mizoram. The club competes in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. Founded in 1984, Aizawl earned entry in I-League in 2015–16 season, a ...

in the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

and the Nepal national team.

Club career

Rijal played for the Nepal Police football club. He was one of the young prospects there then he was loaned to Manang Marsyangdi and went on to scoring in

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

and become the first Nepali Footballer to score in

. With

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

based Mohammedan Sporting, he won the 2019–20 I-League 2nd Division tournament and helped the team qualifying for the 2020–21 I-League season. He currently plays in the

for

in India.

International career

Rijal played his first match in international level against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

as a substitute then he played his first match as a starter against

Chinese taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

and went on to score in that match.

Career statistics

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Nepal's goal tally first.''

Honours

Nepal U23 *

South Asian Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Mohammedan *

I-League 2nd Division The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

: 2019–20

Awards

*ANFA Award 2075 : Emerging player of the year

References

Living people 2000 births Nepalese men's footballers Nepal men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Machhindra F.C. players Nepalese expatriate sportspeople in India South Asian Games gold medalists for Nepal South Asian Games medalists in football Nepal Police Club footballers {{Nepal-footy-bio-stub