Sports Desk: Bangladesh will face the Maldives in the qualifiers for the Asian region of the 2026 FIFA Football World Cup. The joint qualifying draw for the World Cup and Asia Cup was held today (July 27) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The red and green jersey holders will have to fight against the Maldives in the first round of selection. Bangladesh will face Maldives in two-leg games on a home and away basis.
Bangladesh will go to the island country to fight against them in the away match on October 12. Five days later, on October 17, Jamal Bhuiyara will host the Maldives on their own soil. A total of nine teams from Asia will participate in the 2026 World Cup, with 48 teams participating. Out of them, eight teams will qualify directly, and the remaining one will go through the play-offs. Bangladesh will go to the second round only if they win against the Maldives in both legs.
Bangladesh is far behind the Maldives in the FIFA rankings. In the latest published ranking, the Maldives is ranked 155th, and Bangladesh is ranked 189th. However, Bangladesh has the happy memory of defeating the Maldives in the most recent SAFF Championship over the ranking. Moreover, Bangladesh can be optimistic about the selection of the World Cup and Asia Cup because the trend of football in the Maldives has decreased a lot.
A total of 46 teams from Asia participated in the draw for World Cup and Asia Cup qualifiers. The lowest 20 teams from the Asian region in the latest announced FIFA rankings will participate in the first round. Out of these, the 10 teams that go to the next stage will fight with the top 26 teams from the Asian region.
The second round, with a total of 36 teams, will be held from November 2023 to June 2024. At the end of the group stage, the nine group champions and runners-up will advance to the third round of qualifying.
