Bangladesh at the AFC Asian Cup

Bangladesh is among two South Asian teams, the other being India, to have participated in the AFC Asian Cup. Having qualified to the main phase of the tournament successfully on their first attempt, during the 1980 AFC Asian Cup, held in Kuwait. They failed to win any of their 4 games during the tournament. Kazi Salahuddin and Ashrafuddin Chunnu are the only goal scorers for Bangladesh in the competition.

This was the nations only appearance in the AFC Asian Cup to date and since the late 90s, the country's football has seen a massive deterioration, failing to produce talented players like they did in the late 70s and early 90s.[1]

Overall Record
AFC Asian Cup Qualification
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA
1956 to 1968Part of  Pakistan Part of  Pakistan
1972Not an AFC memberNot an AFC member
1976Withdrew from qualificationWithdrew from qualification
1980Group Stage10th4004217Squad 412178
1984Did not qualify 5104613
1988 503219
1992 200207
1996WithdrewWithdrew
2000Did not qualify 4112512
2004 201134
2007 8116219
2011AFC Challenge Cup
2015
2019 120210341
2023TBD 10136419
Total Group stage 1/17 4 0 0 4 2 17 — 52 5 13 34 31 132

AFC Asian Cup Qualification round

1980 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers

In January 1979, the qualifiers for the 1980 AFC Asian Cup began, all the games were held in Dhaka. This was the nations first attempt at qualifying for a major tournament. Nonetheless, their qualifying hopes were left uncertain when they were trashed 3-1 by Qatar. In their final game, Bangladesh faced Afghanistan, in a must win game. The team shocked the whole nation when they stunned the Afghans 3-2, Kazi Salahuddin scored the all important winner during the game and thus helped Bangladesh qualify for the AFC Asian Cup.[2][3]

The team was placed in Group A, along with North Korea, Syria, China and defending champions Iran. All the group-stage games were held at the Sabah Al Salem Stadium in Kuwait City.

1980 Asian Cup
Main article: 1980 AFC Asian Cup

The county's first opposition was Asian giants North Korea. Regardless of coming into the game as huge underdogs, the team played decent attacking football against the Koreans. Bangladesh conceded two goals in a row in the 44th and 45th minutes of the match, both due to blunders from goalkeeper Wahiduzzaman Pintu and the defense. Despite the letdown, the team kept on pressing and following a quick counter attack after winning the ball back from the Korean defense, Bangladesh earned a penalty. Kazi Salahuddin scored the country's first ever major tournament goal from the penalty spot in the 60th minute. However, the Koreans did not let the celebrations last long, when they scored again in the 88th minute after goalkeeper Pintu spilled the ball, leaving an empty net for the Koreans to score in. This did not stop Bangladesh from going on the attack again, and after making a great run, Ashrafuddin Chunnu cut inside to score, making the score-line 3-2. In the end, Bangladesh were not able level the game, even so, they showed great spirit to take on a very strong North Korean team that had qualified for the World Cup only a few years before.[4][5] During their second game, held three days later, against Syria, Bangladesh played with a defensive tactic. In the 7th minute of the match, Syrian striker Jamal Keshek scored a goal to give the team the lead. However, Bangladesh had numerous opportunities to equalize, which in the end they failed to do. Even so, during the game the country displayed a organized defensive performance, though they lacked quality going forward.[6]

During their third game, Bangladesh were outplayed by defending champions Iran, and were trashed 7-0. Within 35 minutes into the game, Bangladesh fell 3 goal behind. Their plan of taking Iran head-on failed, as the team were dominated in the midfield during the first-half. Bangladesh managed to keep out Iran, for the majority of the second half, however, the oppositions constant attacking pressure had the Bangladeshi defense exhausted, leading to Behtash Fariba scoring from a corner in the 80th minute. Iran scored again within 2 minutes of the restart, when Fariba again found the net from close range, subsequently completing his quadruple of goals.[7] The last match of the group-stage, saw Bangladesh conceding 6 against China. Hattricks from Shen Xiangfu and Xu Yonglai ended the nations AFC campaign on a disappointing note. However, even though the team failed to win a single game during the entirety of the competition, their performances on the field was fairly satisfactory, considering this was the country's first ever major tournament appearance, only 4 years after the Bangladesh Football Federation was founded.

Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Iran 4220124+86
 North Korea 430197+26
 Syria 421132+15
 China PR 411295+43
 Bangladesh 4004217−150
North Korea 3–2 Bangladesh
Choi Jae-pil 44', 45'
Kim Jong-man 88'		 Salahuddin 60' (pen.)
Chunnu 90'
Bangladesh 0–1 Syria
Keshek 7'
Bangladesh 0–7 Iran
Fariba 11', 34', 80', 82'
Roshan 21'
Barzegari 27', 87'
Attendance: 2,000
China PR 6–0 Bangladesh
Shen Xiangfu
Xu Yonglai

Record by Opponent
AFC Asian Cup matches head-to-head record
Opponent Played Wins Draws Losses Goals for Goals against Goal difference Points
 North Korea100123–10
 Syria100101–10
 Iran100107–70
 China PR100106–60
Total4004217−150

Goalscorers
No. Player Venue Opponent Score Result Date Edition Goals Ref.
1 Kazi SalahuddinSabah Al Salem Stadium, Kuwait City North Korea1–32-316 September 198019801[8]
2 Ashrafuddin Chunnu2–32-31

References
  1. "Football in bangladesh". June 1, 2014.
  2. Salahuddin, Kazi (October 2007). "যখন চ্যাম্পিয়ন ছিলাম (when I was a champion)". Eid Edition, Prothom Alo. Mahfuz Anam. pp. 495–504.
  3. "Asian Nations Cup 1980". www.rsssf.com.
  4. "Asia cup 1980" – via www.youtube.com.
  5. https://www.prothomalo.com/sports/football/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B6-%E0%A6%AB%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%BE-%E2%80%98%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%BE%E2%80%99
  6. ইকবাল, নাইর. "যে ম্যাচগুলো 'আফসোস' বাংলাদেশের ফুটবলে". Prothomalo.
  7. "1980 Asian Cup Bangladesh vs Iran #Bangladesh, #football, #lostlove, #lostpassion" – via www.youtube.com.
  8. "Asian Nations Cup 1980". www.rsssf.com.
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