The Bangladesh National Football Team will fly to the Maldives on Tuesday morning to play the Qualification Round-1 match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Male.
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The 32-member Bangladesh Football Team, which consists of 23 booters and nine officials, will leave Dhaka at 9:05 am on Tuesday by a BS 337 flight and will return home on October 13.
The Bangladesh team will play hosts Maldives on October 12 in their away Asian Zone Qualification round match in the Maldives capital Male and face Maldives again in their home match on October 17 at the Bashundhara Sports Arena in Dhaka.
The away match of Bangladesh will kick off at 5 pm local time at the Rasmee Dhandu (Galolhu) National Stadium in Male.
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Bangladesh seriously need a win in the two-match series toppling the Maldives, not only to reach the group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 but also to avoid embracing a ban on them playing international matches in the next year.
Earlier, Bangladesh were not allowed to play any international matches for one and a half years after losing to Bhutan in 2015.
As a part of their preparation for the FIFA World Cup preliminary round against the Maldives, Bangladesh played a two-match FIFA Tier-1 International Friendly Football series against their 32-ranked opponent, Afghanistan, in Dhaka last month.
The two-match series between two teams ended in a draw at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital.
The first match between two teams ended in a goalless draw, while the tense-packed second match ended in a 1-1 draw, both in the first week of September.
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Ahead of the vital match against the Maldives, the Bangladesh team suffered a big blow as they will be deprived of the services of number one goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico, defender Topu Barman, and promising striker Shekh Morsalin due to disciplinary grounds.
However, the Bangladesh Football team, which prepared themselves with intensive training at the Bashundhara Sports Arena from September 30, made their final practice session Monday afternoon.