Bangladesh National Football team will play the Maldives in the Qualification Round -1 match of the FIFA World Cup' 2026 on Thursday (Oct 12) in Male.
The away match of Bangladesh for the FIFA World Cup Asian qualification against the hosts Maldives will kick-off on Thursday at 5 pm Bangladesh time at the Rasmee Dhandu (Galolhu) National Stadium in Male.
Bangladesh team will play their home against the Maldives on October 17 at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka.
Bangladesh team in Maldives to play qualification for FIFA World Cup 2026
Bangladesh never beat the Maldives on their home soil in the last 26 years since 2000 where they played 1-1 draw in the Golden Jubilee Tournament in Male.
After the year 2000, Bangladesh faced the Maldives on three more occasions in Male and lost all the matches.
Bangladesh suffered their biggest 0-5 goals defeat against the Maldives in the FIFA International Friendly in 2016 and conceded 0-2 each goals defeat in SAFF Championship in 2021 and in an friendly in 2022, all in Male
However, the recent performance of Bangladesh is encouraging as they won two matches in last four meetings against the Maldives since 2021.
Bangladesh to play Maldives in qualification round of FIFA World Cup 2026 on Oct 12
Bangladesh team badly needed 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 possible ban to play the international matches for about one year.
Earlier, Bangladesh was deprived of playing international football matches for one and half year after losing to Bhutan in 2015.
In a pre- match press conference in Male on Wednesday, the Head Coach Bangladesh Javier Cabrera said, "We have a respect for the Maldives team. We know them very well and also aware of their strength. So, we are very much alert and giving the Thursday's match highest priority,
"We want to go forward (tomorrow), but it will be risky for us if we are very much over-confident against them, although we have faith on our ability" he added.
Bangladesh team which safely reached the Maldives capital Male on Tuesday, made their last practice session at the match venue on Wednesday afternoon.
Despite the absence of three vital players -- number one goal keeper Anisur Rahman Zico, reliable defender Topu Barman and promising striker Shekh Morsalin in the squad, the morale of Bangladesh team is still strong following their good show in the just concluded Asian Games and the match against the Afghanistan.
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 upper Afghanistan, which ended draw in Dhaka last month.
The first match between two teams ended in a goalless draw while the tense-packed 2nd match ended in 1-1 draw, both at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka in the first week of last September.