Photo: BSS

DHAKA, Nov 21, 2025 (BSS) - Bangladesh U-17 national football will start their 2026 AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualifying campaign when they face Timor-Leste in their opening group A match to be held at Tongliang Long Stadium, Chongqing, China tomorrow.

The match kicks off at 12 pm (Bangladesh time). 

Team's coach Golam Robanni Choton through a video message today said 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 our game." 

The coach said they would focus match by match and their ultimate target is to qualify in the Asian Cup.

Replying to a question Choton informed that they have no idea about their rival Timor-Leste because Bangladesh never played against them. Choton however assured that his boys would take to the field with proper plan to beat their rival.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh team completed their final training session under the supervision of coach Golam Robanni Choton before the opening match. 

Bangladesh, which has been placed tough group A along with host China, Bahrain, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste, will play their second group match against Brunei on Nov 24, Sri Lanka on November 26, Bahrain on November 28 and meet host China in their ultimate group match on November 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 reach as one of the six best runners-up but ultimately fell short.