Before the 2022 World Cup, it was general knowledge inside Bangladesh that it is a football-loving country with big fanbases of two of the most exciting and distinguished national teams, namely Brazil and Argentina. Furthermore, the fact that Bangladesh is home to a large number of people who like playing the game was also well known.
There are times when worldwide media will show how the whole nation will break into two separate factions. These groups will raise enormous banners and paint their homes in the colors of their favorite teams, and they will often go as far as to engage in confrontations over the outcome of the game.
On the other hand, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Qatar, brought about a paradigm change in the way that the international media portrayed that enthusiasm in Bangladesh.
Despite the fact that Bangladesh is light years away from qualifying for the globe Cup in Qatar, the country has garnered consistent attention throughout the month. Leading news sites from across the globe and FIFA’s social media accounts have been sharing articles and videos on the nation’s insatiable passion for football, particularly for Brazil and Argentina.
Photos of thousands of students dressed in Albiceleste colors and celebrating at Dhaka University in front of giant screens in the dead of night or photos of people lining the streets of mufassil towns holding enormous sky blue-white flags were splashed across the sports pages of leading newspapers across boundaries. These photos were published in a variety of countries.
The excitement reached a fever pitch when Argentina won their third world championship by defeating France in an exciting final match at the conclusion of a tournament that was filled with ups and downs.
When Lionel Messi raised the prized trophy at Qatar’s Lusail Stadium on December 18 of the previous year, millions of people in Bangladesh shouted as if the award belonged to them just as much as it did to the Argentine team. at reality, however, the trophy belonged to the Argentine team.
The affection and appreciation that Bangladesh exhibited the Albiceleste did not go unnoticed in Buenos Aires; as a result, the South American country moved swiftly to rebuild its embassy 45 years after it had been closed owing to a lack of economic and cultural interchange between the two nations.
The friendship that was established between the Bengali poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore and the Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo more than a century ago was strengthened, albeit from one side, by the love and admiration of the Bangladeshis for Diego Maradona in the 1980s and 1990s. This eventually made global headlines and was institutionalized following Lionel Messi’s victory in the World Cup.
Since then, the foreign minister of Argentina traveled to Bangladesh with a delegation that comprised economic, political, and sports figures. This was done in an effort to bring the two nations, which are separated by more than 16,000 kilometers, closer together. It is hoped that the relationships would get stronger, not just in the realm of football, but also in the realms of politics, education, culture, and of course, finances.