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 | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
![]() ![]() |
Part of ![]() |
Part of ![]() | |||||||||||||
![]() |
Not an AFC member | Not an AFC member | |||||||||||||
![]() |
Withdrew from qualification | Withdrew from qualification | |||||||||||||
![]() |
Group Stage | 10th | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | |
![]() |
Did not qualify | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 13 | ||||||||
![]() |
5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | |||||||||
![]() |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | |||||||||
![]() |
Withdrew | Withdrew | |||||||||||||
![]() |
Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | ||||||||
![]() |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 19 | |||||||||
![]() |
AFC Challenge Cup | ||||||||||||||
![]() | |||||||||||||||
![]() |
12 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 41 | |||||||||
![]() |
To be determined | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 19 | ||||||||
Total | Best: 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[]
Group A[]
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 6 |
![]() |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 6 |
![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |
![]() |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 3 |
![]() |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | −15 | 0 |
Opponents North Korea, 1980 Asian Cup, Kuwait[]
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]
North Korea ![]() | 3–2 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
![]() Kim Jong-man ![]() |
Salahuddin ![]() Chunnu ![]() |
Opponent Syria, 1980 Asian Cup, Kuwait[]
Bangladesh was also impressive during their second game, held three days later, against Syria. In the 7th minute of the match, Syrian striker 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]
Bangladesh ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Opponent Iran, 1980 Asian Cup, Kuwait[]
During their thrid 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]
Bangladesh ![]() | 0–7 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Fariba ![]() Roshan ![]() Barzegari ![]() |
Opponent China, 1980 Asian Cup, Kuwait[]
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.
China PR ![]() | 6–0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
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 |
![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | 0 |
![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 | 0 |
![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | –7 | 0 |
![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | –6 | 0 |
Total | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | −15 | 0 |
Goalscorers[]
No. | Player | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Date | Edition | Goals | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kazi Salahuddin | Sabah Al Salem Stadium, Kuwait City | ![]() |
1–3 | 2-3 | 16 September 1980 | 1980 | 1 | [8] |
2 | Ashrafuddin Chunnu | 2–3 | 2-3 | 1 |
References[]
- ^ "Football in bangladesh". June 1, 2014.
- ^ Salahuddin, Kazi (October 2007). "যখন চ্যাম্পিয়ন ছিলাম (when I was a champion)". Eid Edition, Prothom Alo. Mahfuz Anam. pp. 495–504.
- ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1980". www.rsssf.com.
- ^ "Asia cup 1980" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ প্রতিবেদক, নিজস্ব. "বাংলাদেশ ফুটবলের যত 'পরীক্ষা'..." Prothomalo.
- ^ ইকবাল, নাইর. "যে ম্যাচগুলো 'আফসোস' বাংলাদেশের ফুটবলে". Prothomalo.
- ^ "1980 Asian Cup Bangladesh vs Iran #Bangladesh, #football, #lostlove, #lostpassion" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Asian Nations Cup 1980". www.rsssf.com.
- Bangladesh national football team
- Countries at the AFC Asian Cup