East Bengal aim for maiden SAFF Women’s Club Championship title against home side APF

East Bengal face the favourites in unfamiliar territory.

The first-ever final of the 2025 SAFF Women’s Club Championship will see East Bengal face off against APF in what should be a thrilling clash on Saturday, 20 December 2025, at the Dasharath Rangsala Stadium in Kathmandu.

With East Bengal looking to cap off a perfect campaign by winning their first-ever SAFF title, they face a stern test against the home side and will need to produce something special to get a big win.

The Stakes

East Bengal

East Bengal came into the 2025 SAFF Women’s Club Championship at the back of an admirable showing in the AFC Women’s Champions League, and they’ve been able to prove their quality in the SAFF tournament.

East Bengal won three of their four matches in the group stages, scoring 13 goals and playing some excellent attacking football. Crispin Chhetri, however, will not let complacency set in among his players for this upcoming finale and needs them to produce their most lethal performance in it.

East Bengal will look to make use of their terrorising attacking line to play some fluid, clinical attacking football to get a big win. Being able to win their first-ever SAFF Women’s Club Championship will be particularly sweet for East Bengal and a validation of how well their progress is going. However, losing the finale after dominating the group stages will be particularly embarrassing for them.

APF

APF are the home favourites for the 2025 SAFF Women’s Club Championship final as they will be playing in front of their devoted supporters. The Nepalese side has shown a lot of heart and grit in the competition so far, winning two of their four matches and being able to hold East Bengal to a goalless draw as well! APF will, however, need to significantly improve their performance levels in the final to be able to guide themselves to a big win over East Bengal.

Not only do they need to be defensively extremely disciplined and compact, but the APF players must be clinical in converting their chances to be able to grind out a win. If APF are able to defeat this strong East Bengal side to lfit the title, it’ll be a positive validation of the heart of the Nepal Women’s Football scene. However, a loss would cause their campaign to come to a bitter end.

Team News

East Bengal and APF should both have a fully fit squad available for the final, as there are no suspension issues plaguing either.

Head-to-Head

Matches Played – 1

East Bengal wins – 0

APF wins – 0

Draws – 1

Predicted Lineups

East Bengal (4-2-3-1):

Elangbam Panthoi (GK), Shilky Devi, Ashalata Devi, Sweety Devi, Sarita Yumnam, Sathi Debnath, Susmita Lepcha, Sulanjana Raul, Jyoti Chauhan, Resty Nanziri, Fazila Ikwaput

APF (4-2-3-1):

Anjana Magar (GK), Anita Basnet, Man Damaj, Pratisksha Chaudhary, Hira Bhujel, Gita Rana, Saraswati Hamal, Hima Rawat, Rashmi Ghising, Nisha Thokar, Mina Deuba

Players to Watch

Fazila Ikwaput (East Bengal)

Fazila Ikwaput has proven to be a prolific signing for the East Bengal Women’s side, and she’s been at her destructive in the SAFF Women’s Club Championship as well. The Zimbabwe forward had a ton of fun playing in the group stages, scoring seven goals in the four matches, which included five goals in the 7-0 thrashing of Nasrin. Ikwaput, however, knows that she’ll need to pick up her performance levels in the final against the home side.

She will need to be smart with her movement and link-up play to derail the APF defenders’ momentum and cause them to make mistakes. Most importantly, Ikwaput will be urged to get into the danger zones and finish off chances efficiently to guide East Bengal to the SAFF Women’s Club Championship title.

Anjana Magar (APF)

APF realize that they will need to play on the backfoot against East Bengal because of the sheer strength of the Kolkata side. They will be put under intense pressure by the Indian Women’s League defending champions and it’ll be upon their defensive resolve that can help the Nepal side get a win. Irrespective, APF goalkeeper Anjana Magar can expect to face a real onslaught against the East Bengal players in the final.

She will need to be at her sturdiest in between the goal, maintaining incredible resolve and concentration all game long. Magar has to be quick with her reflexes and proactive enough to make crucial saves in key intervals of the game. If she’s able to produce a real superhero effort to frustrate East Bengal, Magar can motivate her teammates to push on for a winner to stun the Indian side.

Did you know?

• East Bengal and APF both conceded zero goals in the group stages of the SAFF Women’s Club Championship
• Fazila Ikwaput has already scored nine goals in the 2025-26 campaign for East Bengal
• APF have won the Nepal Women’s League title six times in their history.

Telecast Details

The SAFF Women’s Club Championship final between East Bengal and APF will take place on Saturday, 20 December at the  Dasharath Rangsala Stadium in Kathmandu. The match will kick off at 4:45 PM IST. It will be live streamed on the RONB YouTube channel and the MSM Video platform.

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