Bangladesh face India in evening

Bangladesh is looking forward to starting their AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers campaign on a high note when they face their arch-rival India in the much anticipated grudge match, scheduled to be held Tuesday evening at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, India.

The match will kick off at 7.30 pm (Bangladesh time).

The boys in red and green are set to play their first international match of this year after coming off a decent end in 2024. They won three of their four matches last year including two of them being friendlies.

The Jamal Bhuyan and Co. must be aiming to continue their progression and qualities by frustrating the home side.

Bangladesh, though ranked 185 in FIFA ranking, always has been proved one of the tough opponents for 126 ranked India in the recent years in the SAFF region.

Bangladesh studded with a very young side along with a mix of few experienced players formed quite a strong squad that can cause the concern of any opponent on their day.

Bangladesh biggest strength has been their head coach Javier Cabrera who has successfully instilled the fighting mentality into his boys.

Bangladesh must be boosted by the presence of Leicester City star midfielder Hamza Choudhury, who is possibly debuting for Bangladesh to play the first match of the Asian Cup.

On the other hand, India will start their Asian Cup qualifying campaign against Bangladesh.

This will be the first time Shillong will host a qualifiers match in history and the home side have a lot of expectations on their shoulders. Before the match against Bangladesh they recently played a friendly match game against the Maldives and won by 3-0, courtesy of goals from veterans Rahul Bheke and star forward Sunil Chettri, who came back in the team from retirement.

India will take to the field with an upper hand with a good record against Bangladesh and they must be confident going into this match and upbeat to give their best to start their campaign positively.

Bangladesh also added some new faces to their team and they are full of confidence in getting a good result against India though there is a big difference in both team’s FIFA Ranking that doesn’t define the qualities of both teams.

Bangladesh national football team skipper Jamal Bhuyan said they are only focusing on winning the match against India as the captain was found less bothered by the ranking gap between Bangladesh and India.

“Honestly, we don’t think about the ranking … My focus is only on how to win the match. I think this is the best squad so far as the coach mentioned … Hamza’s presence is definitely a big boost for us. We only want three points and are prepared to give our best effort against India,” Jamal said at a pre-match press conference in Shillong, India on Monday, according to a message received here from Bangladesh Football Federation.

Replying to a question Jamal said the mentality of all the team members are the same as they are focusing on a win, but if the match ends in a draw it would be ok.

The Bangladesh skipper replying to another query said: “Hamza’s inclusion in the squad is definitely a positive sign but the local players have also prepared for the game. The mentality has been changed because the way the players are playing is totally different since the coach took charge of the team. Lots of things have been changed and the players are now more ready than two years ago when they were in SAFF.”

When asked if he feels any extra pressure as the football fans are expecting a win from Bangladesh, Jamal admitted that this match against India is off-course a pressure one but at the same time they are cool and want to win the match.

Bangladesh national football team’s head coach Javier Cabrera, who was also present in the press conference, said the match against India is going to be very much exciting.

He said the players are very much motivated and have been training hard in the last 24 days. The boys are very confident and expecting a very tight game against India and hoped to make things very difficult for the home side.

Both Bangladesh and India have faced each other 31 times, out of which India won 16 matches, 13 ended in draws and Bangladesh won two games. In the last five fixtures, four games have ended in draws and India won one match.