Kiran Kumar Limbu ( ; born 20 March 1990), also known as Kiran Chemjong, is a Nepalese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for Nepal national team.

Club career

Born in

Dhankuta Dhankuta ( ) is a hill town and the headquarters of Dhankuta District in Koshi Province in Eastern Nepal. According to 2011 Nepal census, it has population of 26,440 inhabitants. History Until about 1963, Dhankuta Bazaar (the town) was the ...

, Chemjong graduated from the

ANFA Anfa (Berber language: ''Anfa'' or ''Anaffa'', ⴰⵏⴼⴰ; ; ; ) was the ancient toponym for Casablanca during the classical period. The city was founded by Berbers around the 10th century BC, with the Romans under Augustus later establishing t ...

Academy and joined the Machhindra. After spending one year at the club, his impressive performances at Chemjong earned him a move to the

Three Star Club Three Star Club is a Nepali professional football club based in Lalitpur. The club was formed in 2031 BS (1974). Dinker Govinda Amatya, Lt. Krishna Charan Mishra, Lt. Kedar Lal Khosin, Rajkaji Lakhey, Motikaji Bajracharya and Lt. Mehbooh Khan are ...

in 2007. He has won ''British Gurkha Cup'' and ''Aaha Gold Cup Football Tournament''. After being the best goalkeeper of south Asia of the time, Kiran was offered by TC Sports Club in January 2017. He played his first game for TC Sports Club in February 2017 and showed impressive performance, helping the club to win the match by 1–0.

Minerva Punjab

On January 23, 2018, he signed a deal with Hero I League club, Minerva Punjab for an undisclosed amount. He made his debut for the club in an away fixture against NEROCA. He saved a penalty in the 50th minute against

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

, which was taken by

Katsumi Yusa is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeiro Fukushima. Career Sanfrecce Hiroshima Yusa debuted for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in a 2-2 home draw against Gamba Osaka in the 2007 J1 League on 1 December. Yusa also ...

. He was adjudged as the hero-of-the-match for that fine save. Kiran made total of 8 appearances for the club. He eventually won the

2017–18 I-League The 2017–18 I-League was the 11th season of the I-League. Aizawl were the defending champions. NEROCA entered as the promoted team from the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division. The season began on 25 November 2017. Minerva Punjab won their first ...

with Minerva.

RoundGlass Punjab

In September 2022, he signed for

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 ...

club RoundGlass Punjab. He was part of the team that clinched their second I-League trophy in 2022–23 season, and gained promotion to

2023–24 Indian Super League The 2023–24 Indian Super League was the 10th season of the Indian Super League (ISL) and the 28th season of the top-tier in Indian football. It commenced on 21 September 2023 and concluded with the ISL Cup final on 4 May 2024. Mumbai City ...

. Chemjong made his Indian Super League debut on 23 September, in their 3–1 away defeat to

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

in Kolkata.

International career

He is currently considered as the first-choice goalkeeper in Nepal. He has a height advantage over more senior keepers like Bikash Malla and

Ritesh Thapa Ritesh Thapa (; born 2 October 1984) is a former association football, footballer from Nepal who played as goalkeeper. He made his first appearance for the Nepal national football team in 2003. He played for Nepal Police Club. Club career Thapa ...

. He has produced brilliant displays against oppositions bringing wide acclaims. Chemjong played debut match for Nepal in a 3–2 victory against

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

in 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers held in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, although he broke his

jaw The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...

in the match. He debuted at the home ground in a 1–0 win against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

during the

2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. In the

2012 Nehru Cup The 2012 Nehru Cup was the 15th edition of the Nehru Cup and 3rd Nehru Cup since it was revived in 2007. It was held from 22 August to 2 September. The tournament was hosted in New Delhi, India. A total of 5 teams participated in the tournament ...

, Chemjong won the man of the match award in Nepal's game with

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. His performance in the match earned praise from the Indian newspaper

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

and from the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

head coach

István Urbányi István Urbányi (born 17 April 1967) is a Hungarian former football player and coach. He is currently the head coach for Sporting Kansas City II in MLS Next Pro. Career Urbányi was born in Salgótarján. As a player, he spent most of his car ...

. On 26 March 2024, he earned his 100th international cap in a 3–0 away defeat against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

during the 2026 World Cup qualification, becoming the first Nepalese to achieve this feat. However, according to the

All Nepal Football Association The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) (Nepali language, Nepali: अखिल नेपाल फुटबल संघ (एन्फा)) is the governing body of football in Nepal. It is responsible for the Nepal national football team, men's ...

(ANFA), he played his centurion match on 11 June later that year, which ended in a 2–2 away draw against

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

in the same qualifiers.

Personal life

In 2015, along with Three Star teammate Bishnu Gurung, Chemjong paid a visit to malnourished children in an orphanage in

Pokhara Pokhara ( ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city located in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. Named the country's "capital of tourism" it is the List of cities in Nepal, second largest city after Kathmandu, with 599,5 ...

, saying afterwards that it was a "day to remember". On 31 August 2022, He married with his long time girlfriend Kanchan Niraula.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Minerva Punjab/RoundGlass Punjab *

: 2017–18,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

TC Sports *

Dhivehi Premier League The Dhivehi Premier League, known as the MWSC Dhivehi Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a Maldives, Maldivian men's professional association football, football league. At the top of the Football in Maldives, Maldives football league sys ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Maziya S&RC *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual *

Best Goalkeeper:

Best Goalkeeper: 2019–20,

Nepal Super League The Nepal Super League (), simply known as the NSL, is Nepal, Nepal's first professional Franchising, franchise club association football, football league organised by the ''Nepal Sports and Events Management'' (NSEM) with technical support of ...