Defending champions Bangladesh will take on Pakistan in their opening match of the SAFF Women's Championship in Nepal on October 20 and then square off against South Asian powerhouse India in their final group match three days later.

These three teams make up Group A while Group B features hosts Nepal as well as Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

The schedule for the seventh edition of the championship was released by the South Asian Football Federation on Sunday.

The group stage will run from October 17 to 24 while the two semifinals will be held on October 27. The final will be played on October 30.

All the matches will take place at the Dasrath Stadium in Kathmandu, where Bangladesh won their first regional title of Women's SAFF, beating the hosts 3-1 in the final of the last edition in 2022.

This edition was supposed to be held in Bangladesh, but due to unavailability of Bangabandhu National Stadium, the event was moved to Nepal.