Bangladesh to play Maldives in World Cup pre-qualifiers
On 12 October, Bangladesh (ranked 189) will travel to face Maldives (155) before hosting them on 17 October. The men in red and green earlier faced off against each other in a group-stage match of the 2023 Saff Championship in Bengaluru last month, which they ultimately won 3-1.
The draw for the first round of the joint qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup and Asian Cup was made today at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Bangladesh will play Maldives.
On 12 October, Bangladesh (ranked 189) will travel to face Maldives (155) before hosting them on 17 October. The men in red and green earlier faced off against each other in a group-stage match of the 2023 Saff Championship in Bengaluru last month, which they ultimately won 3-1.
In the previous round of World Cup qualifications for 2022, Bangladesh had defeated Laos 1-0 on aggregate at the same stage.
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Although the bottom 18 nations were scheduled to participate in today's draw, Sri Lanka was included in the draw as long as FIFA's suspension was lifted prior to the start of the qualifying rounds.
The top 26 teams and 10 Round-1 winners will play immediately in Round 2.
Today's afternoon is also when the draw for Round-2 will take place.
