The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) today confirmed Dushanbe, Tajikistan as the home venue for Afghanistan, ending weeks of speculation regarding the venue for Bangladesh's first match against the war-torn naion in the Joint Qulifiers for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup.
The continental football's governing body today released venues for the first four matchdays of the qualifiers, and according to the schedule, Bangladesh will play against Afghanistan at either the Republican Central Stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan or at another venue in Tajikistan, on September 10.
Earlier, the Afghans wanted Doha, Qatar as their home venue, but since Qatar is in the same Group E as with Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the request was denied by the AFC. Bangladesh will play their second match against Qatar at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on October 10 before playing against India on October 15 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Bangladesh will start the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers with a match against Afghanistan on September 5. The match will be held at the Central Stadium in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. Bangladesh have digested 4 goals in the last two matches.
As was previously reported, the World Cup and Asian Cup selection mission will begin in Tajikistan.
The rest was just formality. Yesterday, the Asian Football Association officially informed the Bangladesh Football Federation. The Afghanistan-Bangladesh match will be held at Dushanbe's Central Stadium, a ground that is traditionally a 'death knell' for Bangladesh. Bangladesh stole five goals in their last two matches at this stadium. Tajikistan was the host of both matches.
Bangladesh's selection starts with a match against Afghanistan on September 7. Afghanistan does not venture into their neutral home country in any neutral country because they cannot host international football matches in their fields. In the beginning, they tried to get Qatar's capital, Doha, as a home venue but ultimately failed. The prospect of getting the UAE capital Dubai in the second round also failed. Afghans have finally been able to convince Tajikistan. Prior to the Asian Cup selection, Tajikistan was home to the Afghan people. And Russia was their home venue during the World Cup qualification.
Dushanbe Central Stadium is the lucky place for Afghanistan. The draw against the one in the last two games on this field, the other. Cambodia lost 2-0 to Asian Cup qualifiers. The draw against a strong country like Jordan 3-1.
Whatever the venue is for the opponent, there is a death knell for Bangladesh. Bangladesh stole five goals in their last two matches at this stadium. Tajikistan was the host of both matches. Bangladesh lost the same gap in the Asian Cup in the 27th, after losing the World Cup and Asian Cup by a combined score of 5-1. It will be seen if Jamie Der new Bangladesh can leave the field with a point from 'death-row'. In the last three international matches, without winning a goal, they have won two.