Bangladesh national football team won over Maldives in the joint qualifiers of the Asian and the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying Round-1 match at Bashundhara Kings Arena Stadium on Tuesday.
The men in Red and Green badly needed to win the match against Maldives at their own ground, not only to qualify for the 2nd round group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026, but also to avoid a possible absent in the FIFA/AFC international matches for about one year.
Jamal Bhuyan and CO played all- out football from the beginning of the match. They mesmerised the Maldives defence, but Maldives got a clear chance to score in second minutes who failed to convert. The visiting side can’t utilise the chance came from a corner.
In seven minutes, Bangladesh produced a great chance to score but captain Jamal Bhuyan can’t to push the ball into net.
Striker Rakib broke the dead lock in 11 minutes of the match with a heat finish and a close range shot. Bangladesh holds the lead 25 minutes. Maldives forward Aisam Ibrahim equalised in the 36 minutes of the outings. The first half ended on 1-1.
After the interval Bangladesh became more aggressive with strong attack on Maldives. In 46 minutes, Foysal Ahmed Fahim scored the winning goal for Bangladesh. Bangladesh won over Maldives after 18 years.
Bangladesh have a sweet memory of beating the Maldives by 3-1 in the last SAFF Championship in Bengaluru in June 2022.
Meanwhile, a stunning goal by substitute booter M Saad Uddin in added time (90+2 minute) in the away match helped Bangladesh to stay in the race after playing 1- 1 draw in Male.
With hosts Maldives in their Asian preliminary round away match at the National Stadium in Male on Thursday last.
Earlier, Bangladesh were also deprived of playing international football matches for one and half year after losing to Bhutan by 1-3 goals in their return-leg play-off match of the AFC Asian Cup in Thimphu in 2016.
In case of a draw in stipulated 90-minute on Tuesday, the fate of the match will be decided by 30-minute extra time and finally in the tie breaker.
Bangladesh earns the right to play in the six-match home and away basis Group I matches of the World Cup's Asian qualifiers with stronger Australia, Lebanon and Palestine.
Earlier, Bangladesh and the Maldives faced each other on 17 times since 1984 where Bangladesh won seven matches against the Maldives six win. The rest four matches ended in draw.
However, the recent performance of Bangladesh is encouraging as they won two matches in the last four meetings against the Maldives since 2021, featuring a 3-1 victory in the SAFF Championship held in the Indian city of Bengaluru in last June.
Bangladesh, which had to play their away match with the Maldives without three suspended key booters--number one goal keeper Anisur Rahman Zico, reliable defender Topu Barman and promising striker Shekh Morsalin, this time also ignored Shekh Morsalin in Tuesday's squad, despite his club Bashundhara Kings withdrew his temporary suspension recently.
