What should have been a showpiece final in Mymensingh turned into another sorry chapter in domestic football's decline.
Following Sheffield United midfielder Hamza Choudhury’s debut for Bangladesh against India last month, interest among expatriate footballers in representing the national team has seen a notable rise. Canada-based midfielder Shamit Shome has already expressed his desire to play for Bangladesh.
According to the long-serving captain, the most notable transformation since Hamza’s arrival has been a dramatic rise in team confidence.
The 27-year-old, currently a regular for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League, was previously capped twice in friendlies for the Canada senior team in 2020.
A total of 245 matches have taken place globally since the December 2024 rankings, with teams from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America competing in FIFA World Cup 26 qualifiers.
Fresh off their hard-fought goalless draw against India in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers, Bangladesh’s national footballers took a break from the grind to spread festive cheer, extending Eid-ul-Fitr greetings to fans worldwide.
Ridoy had the simplest of chances to put Bangladesh ahead against India in the 12th minute.
It wasn’t just his skills on the pitch that won hearts—it was his character.
Hamza Choudhury’s arrival sparked enthusiasm and interest in football in Bangladesh like never seen before.
The 2024–25 campaign has already seen three top-flight clubs facing allegations of betting and fixing
The midfielder, who recently declared to play for Bangladesh the country of his mother’s birth, follows striker Tom Cannon to Bramall Lane as Leicester free up funds to add to Ruud van Nistelrooy’s squad before the end of the transfer window.
Quick running has always been Al Amin’s strength, a skill he developed in childhood and plans to continue refining. His initial target is to remain at the top of the scorer’s list with seven to eight goals by the end of the first phase, and he also hopes to achieve a hat-trick soon, having already struck a double in three matches.
The women’s team excelled once again, winning their second successive SAFF Women’s Championship title, while the men’s team remained stuck in mediocrity. Age-level teams found success at SAFF level while Bashundhara Kings carried on with their domestic domination.
The Bangladesh Football Ultras cheered on the team right through the match and serenaded them on their way out of the Bashundhara Kings Stadium, where Javier Cabrera’s charges had just snatched a deserved victory in stoppage time, thanks to a late goal from substitute midfielder Papon Singh.
Former footballer-turned-organiser Tabith expectedly won the elections with a landslide victory over unheralded organiser AFM Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury by 123-5 votes, as 128 voters out of 133 delegates cast their votes to elect a new committee for the next four years, from 2024 to 2028.
win against India would all but secure Bangladesh's place in the semifinals from Group A, which also includes Maldives.
The top ten positions remain unchanged, with Argentina leading the pack, followed by France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia, and Italy.
The season is set to commence on October 11 with the one-off Challenge Cup match at Bashundhara Kings Arena, and it will be followed by the beginning of the Federation Cup and BPL on October 15 and 18, respectively.
The country’s 2024-25 football season was originally scheduled to get underway today with the lone match of the newly introduced Challenge Cup, but the recent changes in the country’s political scene deferred the season’s opening by three weeks, with a tentative start date of October 4.
