Approximately eight days before their first of two FIFA-friendly matches against hosts Bangladesh, the Afghanistan national football team is set to arrive in Dhaka tonight.
Following their AFC Champions League match, Bashundhara Kings’ kickers recently began training camp. After competing in the AFC Cup, the Abahani-affiliated players are scheduled to join on August 27, a few days before skipper Jamal Bhuiyan rejoins the team.
The 25-member Afghan team’s foreign-born players, who come from countries including the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, are expected to begin arriving in Afghanistan on Sunday after the rest of the team has already arrived. Two of their players will reportedly arrive in Bangladesh on the first game day, according to information.
According on availability, the tourists are expected to check in at the Amari Hotel in Banani and train at either the Kings Arena or Bangladesh Police field.
The two FIFA friendly are set to take place at Bashundhara Kings Arena on September 4 and 7. Afghanistan will next go for this location on September 8 to face the Philippines in another friendly match on September 12.
The Bangladesh-Afghanistan games will act as a warm-up for the two teams as they get ready for the World Cup pre-qualifiers in October, where Afghanistan will play against Mongolia and Bangladesh will take on the Maldives.
Afghanistan recently participated in two CAFA Nations Cup games under the direction of Kuwaiti coach Abdullah Almutairi. Afghanistan lost to Kyrgyzstan 3-0 there, refusing to continue the match after 97 minutes with Kyrgyzstan ahead 1-0, and then Iran destroyed them 6-1.
Bangladesh has been able to keep Afghanistan at bay five times since 2008, but they have also lost twice: 4-0 in the 2015 SAFF Championship and 1-0 in the 2021 World Cup Qualifying.