The Bangladesh U-23 football team left Dhaka on Thursday morning for a 12-day training camp in Bahrain, marking their first-ever overseas preparation tour ahead of an AFC competition. The camp includes two practice matches against Bahrain U-23, forming a crucial part of their build-up to the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Vietnam this September.
After nearly two weeks of intensive training in Dhaka, the 25-member squad—bolstered by recent arrivals from Abahani and Bashundhara Kings—embarked on the trip with renewed optimism. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) sees this initiative as a strategic move to strengthen the pipeline for the senior national team, who are set to face Hong Kong in October’s Asian Cup Qualifiers.
Three Abahani players joined the camp on Wednesday following their AFC Challenge League duties, while four Bashundhara Kings players—Rimon Hossain, Mojibur Rahman Jony, Mehedi Hasan Srabon, and Cuba Mitchell—linked up with the squad from Qatar.
Speaking ahead of the departure, BFF technical director and U-23 head coach Saiful Bari Titu said the Bahrain tour would help define realistic targets for the qualifiers. “We’ll assess our readiness after the matches in Bahrain. This is a vital step in our long-term development plan,” he noted. The U-23s are placed in Group C alongside hosts Vietnam, Yemen, and Singapore. With only group winners and the four best runners-up advancing to the final round, every detail of preparation counts. This overseas camp signals a shift in Bangladesh’s footballing ambition—investing in youth, building continuity, and aiming for competitive performances on the continental stage.
