It wasn’t the way they pictured it, but Bangladesh’s under-20 women will take it. A few hours after being thumped 6-1 by South Korea, they were celebrating history — a first-ever spot in the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup finals.
The news came from miles away. Lebanon’s 8-0 collapse against China meant Bangladesh finished among the three best runners-up across the eight qualifying groups. That was enough to punch their ticket to Thailand next April.
Earlier in the day, the script had looked more straightforward. A draw against Korea in Vientiane would have made them group winners. Trishna Rani even put them in front on 15 minutes, latching on to Shanti Mardi’s pass. But the lead lasted only five minutes. Once the Koreans pulled level, the second half turned ugly — five more goals flew in as Peter Butler’s side lost their shape and their grip on the game.
Under-20! Women's Asian Qualifiers: Trishna bags hattrick as Bangladesh beat East Timor 8-0
Still, the damage wasn’t fatal. Wins over Laos (3-1) and East Timor (8-0) kept their points tally strong enough to survive the final-day blowout. Trishna finished the campaign with four goals, including a hat-trick, while Mosammat Sagarika scored three.
It’s another milestone for the women’s game here, following the senior team’s breakthrough in July. Bangladesh now join heavyweights North Korea, Japan, China, South Korea, India and hosts Thailand in the 12-team finals.
Go deep enough in Thailand — the top four sides go to the U-20 World Cup in Poland — and this could just be the start of an even bigger story.//