Bangladesh progressed to the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup Joint-Qualifiers after holding Laos to a goalless draw at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Midfielder Robiul Hassan had scored the only goal in the 71st minute for Bangladesh when the two teams had met on June 6 at the New Laos National Stadium in Vientiane in the first leg.
And that proved to be the difference between the two sides over the two legs as the Bengal Tigers, coached by Jamie Day, progressed at the expense of V Sundramoorthy’s Laos with a 1-0 aggregate win in the first round of the World Cup Qualifiers.
The hosts missed a number of chances at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday after a 1-0 win in Laos last week.
Needing at least a 2-1 win to secure a berth in the qualifiers, Laos failed to put Bangladesh’s defence to test.
Manager Jamie Day started Mamunul Islam and Rabuil Hasan, who scored the lone goal in the first leg, in place of Arifur Rahman and Matin Mia respectively, but the duo could not give the breakthrough.
The results of the two matches have also earned Bangladesh the confirmation to play competitive international matches for two more years.
As many as 12 teams from the bottom of FIFA rankings have played the first round and six of them are going to the second round.
These six and 34 others ranked above them will play in eight groups in the second round for the main round of the qualifiers. They will now take part in the second round of the joint-qualifiers which will begin on September 2019 and last till June 2020. 40 teams from across the continent will be pitted into eight groups in the second round. The eight group winners along with four best runners-up will advance to third round. The draw for the second round group stages is scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar on July 17. Bangladesh have finished last in a group featuring Australia, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan in the second round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers collecting just one point from their eight matches.
