Bangladesh take on Timor-Leste today

Dhaka, 22 Nov - The Bangladesh U-17 national football team take on Timor-Leste in their opening Group A match of the 2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers, scheduled to be held at the Tongliang Long Stadium in Chongqing, China, today (Saturday).

The match kicks off at 12 p.m. Bangladesh time.

Earlier, the team's coach, Golam Robanni Choton, said the boys are happy and excited to play the AFC Cup match. "All the participating teams are strong, especially China and Bahrain, but we are only focusing on our own game."

The coach said they would approach the tournament match by match, with their ultimate target being qualification for the Asian Cup.

Bangladesh, who have been placed in a tough Group A along with hosts China, Bahrain, Brunei, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste, will play their second group match against Brunei on Nov 24, Sri Lanka on Nov 26, Bahrain on Nov 28, and host China in their final group match on Nov 30.

Earlier, the boys in red and green set their target on reaching the finals of the 2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup.

Seven group champions will secure places in the 16-team finals, joining hosts Saudi Arabia and eight other nations who have already qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Over the last nineteen years, Bangladesh's best performances have been group runners-up finishes in 2017 and 2022. On both occasions, they came close to qualifying as one of the six best runners-up but ultimately fell short. BSS