Bangladesh set to play their FIFA World Cup 2026 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 match against Maldives when the draw of the competition was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday.
According to the AFC competitions’ regulations a total 20 teams were divided into 10 pairings, with each pair to play one home and one away match on October 12 and 17, 2023 respectively.
In this respect Bangladesh will play first their away match on October 12 and home match on October 17.
Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuiyah is happy with having Maldives to play in the World Cup 2026 and Asian Cup 2027.
Jamal said, “I think it’s good for us having Maldives, because there were stronger teams in the slot, we could have been drawn with some stronger sides, but I respect Maldives. I think it was good, Bangladesh were drawn with Maldives.’
“Menatally we have some confidence, because during SAFF Championship we competed with Maldives and we won the match, we were overhand.”
But I know in October there will be truly different match. So ovrall I am okay with the draw,” Jamal told the reporters in his omeediate reaction after knowing their opponents in the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 pre-qualifying competition.
Meanwhile, the AFC released the full schedules, as Afghanistan were drawn to play Mongolia while Singapore and Guam will square off for a place in Round 2 with Yemen playing Sri Lanka and Myanmar to meet Macau.
Cambodia were drawn against Pakistan, Chinese Taipei will meet Timor-Leste and Indonesia will face off against Brunei Darussalam. The remaining two fixtures saw Hong Kong, China pitted against Bhutan while Nepal will face Laos.
The 10 winners of Round 1 will proceed to Round 2, where they are joined by the remaining 26 teams, with the draw to be conducted later on Thursday.
These 36 sides will be drawn into nine groups of four, competing against each team in a home-and-away round-robin format, between November 2023 and June 2024.
All nine group winners and the respective runners-up will advance to the third round of World Cup qualifying, and at the same time seal their places at the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027.
The draw for the third round of the global showpiece in 2026 will be conducted in 2024, where the 18 teams will be divided into three groups of six; the top two from each group will qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The other two direct AFC entrants will be determined in the fourth round of World Cup qualifying, with one more possible berth available via an Intercontinental Playoff.
The other 18 teams from Round 2 will proceed directly to the third and final round of AFC Asian Cup qualifying. More details on the latter qualifying stages will be released in due course.
Meanwhile, as decided by the AFC Competitions Committee at its first meeting on July 1, 2023, Northern Mariana Islands, while not involved in Thursday’s draw, are eligible to participate in the qualifiers of the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 but not the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The Pacific Islanders could feature in the AFC Asian Cup by entering the Qualifiers Playoff Stage, where they will join the losing teams from the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 (PJQR1) to contest for a place in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers Final Round.
