Bangladesh in tough group

Bangladesh were placed in Group E of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers when the draw for the 40-nation event was held at the AFC Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday.

Jordan, Tajikistan, Palestine are the other group mates of Bangladesh, who finished bottom of the four-team group in the last edition in Dhaka after having suffered 0-4 defeats against Syria and Uzbekistan while playing out a goalless draw against India.

The 40 teams, split into 10 groups, will play in qualifying rounds, which are scheduled to take place in 10 different venues from July 19 to 23. The group champions and five best runners-up teams will advance to the final stage which is scheduled to be held in China in January, 2018. Bangladesh will begin their campaign on July 19 with their fixture against Jordan while on the same day hosts Palestine are set to lock horns with Tajikistan.