Bangladesh showcased a spirited show against Maldives to win their home leg match 2-1 to qualify for the World Cup 2026 qualifier on Tuesday.
Bangladesh drew the away leg 1-1 last week and now they have qualified for the group stage where they will face Afghanistan, Lebanon and Australia.
Rakib opened the scoring for the hosts before Aisam Ibrahim equalised for Maldives. Fahim gave the lead to Bangladesh early in the second half but Sohel Rana got a marching order in the 59th minute to reduce Bangladesh to 10-man side.
However, the charges under Javier Cabrera showed incredible guts as they held their lead for the remaining 31 minutes with valour and doggedness.
After a spirited show Bishwanath Halder, the lynchpin of the defence, gave a victory lap by waving Palestine flag to the house-full crowd of the Bashundhara Kings Arena, who were rejoicing holding the flags of Bangladesh and Palestine.
Bangladesh coach included winger Saad Uddin in this match at the expense of Issa Faisal and from the beginning they started to play 4-4-2 while transforming to 4-2-3-1 at transition.
Rakib scored the first goal in the 11th minute when Saad passed to Faysal Ahmed Fahim, who made a cutback from the line, and Rakib placed with sheer accuracy.
Fahim could double the lead four minutes later but his shot off Jamal cross was acrobatically saved by Maldives custodian Hussain Sharif.
The goalie became saviour once again in the 29th minute when he deflected a Rakib shot from one-on-one position while his counterpart Mitul Marma was equal to the task four minutes later saving a Hamza Mohammad diagonal shot.
Rakib was unfortunate in the 34th minute as his shot off Jamal Bhuiyan cross hit the bar. But Maldives got their equalizer two minutes later when Ibrahim headed the ball home off Hamza corner.
Bangladesh got back their lead just in the first minute after the break. Saad overlapped through the left to make a powerful shot. Maldives keeper made a save but the rebound fell to Fahim who made no mistake slotting the ball home.
Sohel Rana got his second yellow card in the match as he made a rough tackle at the hour mark and left Maldives with numerical advantage.
The hosts created a barrage of attacks but Bangladesh countered them well. Bangladesh coach fielded an extra defender to make a five-man defence and they kept the harmony with spirit.
But their play did not remain mere defending. They often tried to move forward and some of the crosses from right to left winger Johnny were impressive. During such an attack a Maldives defender fouled the last man and got a direct yellow card in the 93rd minute.
Bangladesh could not convert the free kick from the dangerous position but they held high with a hard-earned win.
Bangladesh will face Australia in Melbourne for their first qualifying match on 17 November.