Bangladesh’s U-23 national football team will kick off their AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifying campaign today (Wednesday) with a challenging encounter against hosts Vietnam in Group C.

The match is scheduled to take place at the Viet Tri Stadium in Phu Tho Province, Vietnam, with kick-off set for 7 pm local time.

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) sent the team on a training tour to Bahrain last month in preparation for the qualifiers. 

However, the tour yielded little success on the field. The team suffered defeats in both friendly matches, losing 1–0 in the first and 4–2 in the second against the Bahraini side.

Bangladesh has never qualified for the final round of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup. Despite the historical hurdle, the young team enters the tournament determined to make a breakthrough.

Bangladesh will face Vietnam, Yemen, and Singapore in Group C. Following today’s opener against Vietnam, they are set to take on Yemen on September 6 and Singapore on September 9.

The qualifiers feature 44 teams divided into 11 groups. Group winners and the four best second-placed teams will advance to the final tournament in Saudi Arabia, scheduled for January next year. As hosts, Saudi Arabia automatically qualifies for the final round.

SMS/