| Football in Bangladesh | |
|---|---|
_Bangladesh_vs_Lebanon.jpg) Bangladesh football fans during the2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match betweenBangladesh andLebanon in 2023 | |
| Country | Bangladesh |
| Governing body | Bangladesh Football Federation |
| National team(s) | Men's national team |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
International competitions | |
Football is one of the most popular sports inBangladesh, introduced during the late 19th century underBritish rule, withDhaka playing a central role in its development.[1][2] TheBangladesh Football Federation was founded in 1972, a year after the country’s independence. The national team made its official debut at the1973 Merdeka Cup in Malaysia. Domestic football resumed the same year with theDhaka First Division League, which had existed since before thepartition of India and attracted internationally renowned players likeNasser Hejazi andEmeka Ezeugo. Professional football was introduced in 2007 with theBangladesh Premier League, known formerly as the B.League.[3]
Football inBengal was introduced during theBritish Raj and gained popularity through Western educational institutions inCalcutta andDhaka in the 19th century. Players fromEast Bengal, including regions like Dhaka, Bikrampur, and Chittagong, began participating in matches at the Calcutta Maidan. A landmark moment came in 1911 whenMohun Bagan AC won theIFA Shield with eight players from East Bengal.[4] While theCalcutta League, established in 1898, was dominated by West Bengal players, East Bengali talents likeGostha Pal fromBhojeswar (now Naria Upazila) also made their mark. In 1920,East Bengal FC were found and began participating in the Calcutta First Division from 1925.Kolkata Mohammedan entered the First Division in 1933, led byHabibullah Bahar Chowdhury fromFeni.[5]
In the late 19th century, several football clubs were established in Dhaka, and this club culture gradually spread to other parts of East Bengal, including Chittagong, Mymensingh, and Tajhat. The first football club in East Bengal,Wari Club Dhaka, was founded in 1898 by Rai Bahadur Surendranath Rai. The club practiced at thePaltan Maidan in Dhaka and achieved some success in the IFA Shield by sending teams to various districts of West Bengal. In 1903,Victoria Sporting Club was established by five prominent zamindar families of Dhaka, named in honor of Queen Victoria. Beyond Dhaka, clubs like Tajhat Football Club inRangpur, founded in 1908,[1] and Mymensingh Mohammedan, reportedly founded in the same year as Wari in 1898, contributed to the growing football culture.[6]
The Dhaka Sports Association (DSA) was established in 1895 as the apex body controlling sports in East Bengal. The DSA initiated theDhaka First Division League in 1915.[7] Notable teams participating in the First Division included Dacca Farm (champions in 1936 and 1937), Wari Club, Victoria SC, Dhaka Hall, Medical College, and Jagannath College.[8] The introduction of aSecond Division andThird Division allowed clubs likeDhaka Mohammedan andDhaka Wanderers, both supported by members of theNawab family of Dhaka, to make their mark in Dhaka football.[9] In addition to the league, the Kumudini Cup was introduced in Rajshahi, while the Sir Ronald Shield was played in both Dhaka and Chittagong starting in 1920. Inter-school and college football tournaments also gained popularity during that time.[1]
Mymensingh also played a huge role in the development of the game in East Bengal, with the simultaneous introduction of the Surya Kanta Shield and the Lila Devi Shield in 1914, both initially sponsored by theMuktagacha dynasty. The Lila Devi Shield, famously known as a 4-foot-8-inch trophy, was an event particularly popular among school-goers, while the Surya Kanta Shield saw clubs from Dhaka, Calcutta, andKarachi participate, with Mohun Bagan notably winning the title in 1920.[10][11]
In the early 20th century, the Dhaka First Division League gained nationwide attention, with clubs such as Victoria SC, Wari Club, and Dacca Farm at the forefront of its growth.[2] Notably, the 1927 season featured the"Football Magician",Syed Abdus Samad, representing Victoria SC, further highlighting the league's development.[12]
In November 1937,Islington Corinthians fromEngland visited Dhaka as part of their tour of India. On 21 November, they played against the DSA XI and suffered the tour's first defeat.[13][14] The DSA team included players fromDhaka Hall and Wari Club, and the game's only goal was scored by Pakhi Sen, who hailed fromMymensingh. While departing Dhaka, the opposition admitted to their defeat, stating, "I heard a lot about the Bengal tiger! This time I saw it!"[15]
The Corinthians also played exhibition matches in Mymensingh,Kishoreganj,Comilla,Chittagong andRajshahi, winning at all frontiers, one after another. The match at Chittagong had an official record attendance, with 77,000 people watching the game.[16] Eventually, a football league was inaugurated in Chittagong in 1946.
Following the foundation of theAll India Football Federation in 1937, the DSA was one of the proposers of a national interstate football championship inIndia. The football competition was introduced on 27 January 1941 at the Bombay General Assembly, as theSantosh Trophy.[1] TheDacca football team which became the provincial member under Dacca Sporting Association in 1940, participated in the tournament in1944–45 and1945–46 editions withouth finding much success.[17]
Following the Partition of India in 1947, East Bengal became part of Pakistan and began competing in the annualNational Football Championship, which later became the country’s highest-level football competition. In 1951, theEast Pakistan Sports Federation (EPSF) was established, replacing the Dacca Sporting Association (DSA) as the province’s primary sports body, withHabibullah Bahar Chowdhury as its first president.[18] The National Championship was held in Dacca for the first time in 1957, where theEast Pakistan Whites finished as runners-up, and in 1960, East Pakistan secured its maiden title in Karachi.[19] After this success, the EPSF introduced divisional teams from Dacca, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi, with Dacca Division winning back-to-back titles in 1961–62 and 1962, while Chittagong triumphed in 1969–70.[20] In the late 1960s, the DSA fielded strong Combined University XI teams, which also participated in the National Youth Football Championship.[21]
Football leagues in Dacca, Chittagong, and Khulna were the most active in East Pakistan, shaping teams for the National Championship. In Dacca, the First and Second Division leagues resumed a year after Partition, followed by the Third Division.Victoria SC won the inaugural First Division season, butDhaka Wanderers dominated the 1950s. The league also attracted top players from other East Pakistani districts such as Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna. The Independence Day Cup was also introduced as the region’s top domestic cup, with its final played annually on August 14. In 1958, Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini (Aga Khan IV), with the EPSF andAFC, launched theAga Khan Gold Cup as an unofficialAFC Champions League, bringing top Asian clubs to Dacca.[22]Dhaka Mohammedan won it in 1959 and soon dominated domestic football. The 1960s saw clubs like Victoria SC and Dhaka Mohammedan recruit West Pakistani players, especially ofMakrani descent.[19]
With Dacca's football scene dominated by West Pakistani players, the EPSF introduced regulations limiting clubs to a maximum of five non-Bengali players per league game. Clubs likeAzad SC,Rahmatganj MFS, andPolice AC prioritized Bengali players, yet over the two decades following Pakistan's creation, only 24 Bengalis represented the national team.[23] The highlight came at the1958 Tokyo Asian Games, where Pakistan was captained byNabi Chowdhury fromFeni, and featured five other Bengali players. Besides the National Championship, the East Pakistan football team also played unofficial international matches, including a heavy 1–11 defeat toChina on 24 January 1963 in Dacca.[24][25] In 1961, they facedBurma in two warm-up matches in Dacca andChittagong, suffering similarly lopsided losses.[26] On 9 June 1963, the East Pakistan Sports Board XI played an exhibition match againstBundesliga clubFortuna Düsseldorf, who had an unplanned stay in Pakistan due to aircraft issues. The match atDhaka Stadium ended in a 1–4 defeat for the hosts.[27] The team won their maiden international trophy in 1970, the King Mahendra Cup inKathmandu,Nepal.[28]
During theBangladesh Liberation War of 1971, theShadhin Bangla football team was formed by the Bangladesh Sports Association under theProvisional Government, playing 16 friendly matches across India and raising Tk 16.33 lakh for the war effort.[29] After Bangladesh's victory on 16 December 1971, the first football match in independent Bangladesh took place on 13 February 1972 atDhaka Stadium, where President’s XI defeated Bangladesh XI 2–0.[30]Mohun Bagan became the first international team to visit, playing two exhibition matches on 11 and 13 May 1972, defeatingMohammedan 1–0 but losing 1–0 to Dhaka XI before 35,000 spectators.[31] TheBangladesh Football Federation (BFF) was founded on 15 July 1972 by former MinisterMd.Yousuf Ali, affiliating with AFC in 1973 and FIFA in 1976.[32] Before affiliation, Dhaka XI toured India from August to November 1972, finishing runners-up in theBordoloi Trophy, and played two home exhibition matches againstEast Bengal in November. Eventually, theBangladesh national football team made their international debut at the1973 Merdeka Tournament inMalaysia.[33]
On 5 November 1973,Dinamo Minsk from theSoviet Union arrived in Dhaka for four exhibition matches. They faced Dhaka XI on 6 November, followed by dominant wins against Comilla XI (7–0 on 9 November), Jessore XI (9–0 on 11 November), and Dhaka Metropolis XI (3–0 on 14 November).[34][35] Although domestic football resumed in 1972, both theFirst Division andSecond Division, were abandoned after a few games. In 1972, Mohammedan defeatedEast End Club in theIndependence Cup final, notably this was the first football tournament in independent Bangladesh.[36] The following year,Rahmatganj MFS participated in the Bordoloi Trophy, becoming the first club from independent Bangladesh to play abroad.BJMC won the First Division in 1973, and would dominate domestic football that decade alongside Mohammedan and the newly formedAbahani Krira Chakra, the latter being formed and funded bySheikh Kamal. Since their first clash in 1973, theDhaka derby between Abahani and Mohammedan grew into the biggest fixture in domestic football, fueled by their massive nationwide fan bases.[37]
TheAga Khan Gold Cup resumed in 1976 but never regained its past success. In its final edition in 1981–82,Brothers Union won jointly withBangkok Bank, becoming the only local club to claim the title post-independence.[38] In 1985, the AFC relaunched the Asian Club Championship, with Abahani debuting as 1984 league champions, finishingCentral Asian Zone runners-up behind East Bengal. Despite Abahani’s league hat-trick (1983–85),[39] the era is considered Mohammedan’s golden years, as they also secured a hat-trick of league titles (1986, 1987, 1988–89) and remained unbeaten in 76 league games from 8 September 1985 to 15 March 1990.[40][41] Under coachNasser Hejazi, they achieved continental success, reaching the1988–89 Asian Club Championship semi-final group round, while defeating both Iran'sPersepolis and North Korea'sApril 25, and advancing to the quarter-final group stage in both the1990–91 and1991 editions.[42][43] From 1980, theFederation Cup would become the main domestic cup tournament of Bangladesh. ThePioneer League was introduced in 1981, as the fourth-tier of domestic football.[44]
Bangladesh made their major tournament debut at the1978 Bangokok Asian Games but failed to secure a win. That same year, Dhaka hosted the1978 AFC Youth Championship,[45] followed by the1980 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, where Bangladesh advanced as group runners-up. However, they lost all four matches in themain tournament in Kuwait. ThePresident’s Gold Cup began in 1981, featuring both national teams and clubs. Bangladesh earned their first Asian Games win in 1982, defeating Malaysia 2–1. Their World Cup qualification debut came in the1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, finishing bottom with two wins and four losses. Despite four runner-up finishes in theSouth Asian Games (1984–1995), a title remained elusive. The team would also finish runners-up at the1985 Quaid-e-Azam International Cup in Pakistan.[46] In 1989, Bangladesh won the1989 President's Gold Cup, however, aside fromIndia, the other participating teams were clubs and University teams.[47]
In 1991, theDhaka First Division League was not held for the first time since 1971. The BFF organized theBTC Club Cup to aid victims of the1991 cyclone, featuring India'sMohun Bagan,East Bengal, andKolkata Mohammedan. However, in the final, contested by local clubs Abahani and Mohammedan, Abahani won 1–0. Following the tournament's success, both East Bengal and Kolkata Mohammedan recruited several players from the finalists, most notablyMonem Munna, who became a fan favorite at East Bengal and helped them win the 1991 Calcutta First Division League.[48] In 1993, the BFF restructured the country's league system by introducing theDhaka Premier Division League, with theFirst Division serving as the second-tier, expanding Bangladesh’s league system to five tiers. That same year, Mohammedan, Abahani, andBrothers Union agreed to refrain from signing players from one another, the decrease in demand also led to a decrease in player salaries.[49]
Aside from the league in Dhaka, theSher-e-Bangla Cup allowed district teams and government institutions to participate, however, most teams were dominated by players from the top division of Dhaka, as district football league's were also held irregularly, leading to the centralization of football. The lack of quality players also affected the national team, with Bangladesh even failing to advanced past the group-stages of the1993 South Asian Games held on home soil. Despite these setbacks, domestic football remained a major focus. In 1991,Dhaka Abahani made history by signing Monem Munna for Tk 20 lakh, setting a South Asian transfer record at the time.[50] However, it wasn’t until 1995 that Bangladesh achieved its first international success, winning the4-nation Tiger Trophy under Munna’s captaincy with a 2–1 victory over hostsMyanmar in the final.[51] Eventually, Bangladesh, led byJewel Rana, secured gold at the1999 South Asian Games, after four runners-up finishes.[52]
In 2000, the BFF struck a sponsorship deal withNitol Niloy Group, worth Tk 40 lakh deal, and initiated theNational Football League in order to decentralise domestic football from Dhaka. The league ran for five seasons, with district champions from all eight division including services team eligible to participate. Although the Dhaka Premier Division League remained Bangladesh's top-tier, its winners lost the right to participate in theAsian Club Championship following its re-introduction after the2001–02 edition. With the introduction of theAFC Cup in 2004, the AFC competition spot previously awarded to the Dhaka Premier League champions was reassigned to the winners of the National League andFederation Cup.[53] Additionally, as cricket grew in popularity, football, once Bangladesh’s leading sport, suffered a decade of mismanagement, leading to its decline in popularity. The domestic football league in Dhaka, which regularly attracted more than 20,000 spectators per game in the two decades following independence, struggled to draw even 5,000 spectators following the turn of the century, leading to a decline in ticket sales.[54]
On 26 November 2001,SA Sultan was appointed BFF president and replaced its elected body with an ad-hoc committee, leading to aFIFA ban on 10 January 2002, which was lifted on 11 February after reinstating the original committee.[55] In 2003, the national team achieved significant success by winning the2003 SAFF Gold Cup on home soil.[56] However, the BFF failed to capitalize on this, as their proposal to make the National League a two-tiered competition, including the top ten Dhaka Premier Division League clubs, did not materialize.[57] Additionally, the Dhaka Premier Division was not held in 2006, leaving Bangladesh without domestic football for nearly a year. The national team crashed out in the quarter-finals of the2006 AFC Challenge Cup, also held at home, and failed to earn a single point in the2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
In 2007, theB.League (now Bangladesh Premier League) was introduced as Bangladesh’s first professional national football league, marking the beginning of professional football in the country.[58] The following year, former national captainKazi Salahuddin was appointed president of the BFF.[59] In his first year in office, he secured a landmark three-year sponsorship deal worth Taka 16.5 crore (approximately US$2,285,714) withCitycell, granting the multinational mobile operator title sponsorship rights for both the professional league and the Federation Cup.[60] In 2009, the BFF launched theCitycell Bangladesh Super Cup, with the winners receiving prize money of Tk 1 crore (approximately $150,000), which was reportedly a record in Asia at the time.[61] In 2008, the District Football Associations (DFAs) were formed under FIFA guidelines to strengthen the domestic pipeline.[62] The BFF also resumed the Dhaka Metropolis School Football Tournament in 2010, following a four-year hiatus.[63][64] In 2012, theBangladesh Championship League was introduced as the professional second-tier national football league.[65]
6 September 2011, marked a huge moment for football in Bangladesh, as theNational Stadium in Dhaka hosted a international friendly match betweenArgentina andNigeria. The game notably featuredLionel Messi,Sergio Agüero,Javier Mascherano andMikel John Obi among the other star players of both nations. Argentina won 3–1 with goals from then-Real Madrid teammatesGonzalo Higuaín andÁngel Di María, and an own goal from Nigeria'sElderson Echiéjilé withChinedu Obasi scoring Nigeria's lone goal. Bangladeshi refereeTayeb Shamsuzzaman officiated the game, which drew 25,000 spectators despite ticket prices starting at US$100.[66]
In 2007, Bangladeshi clubs were relegated to theAFC President's Cup after failing to send a team to the2006 AFC Cup due to the absence of a domestic league that season. They remained in AFC's third-tier due to poor performances until the tournament was disbanded in 2014.[67] Although the professional league was introduced primarily to decentralize football in the country, it mainly saw Dhaka-based teams participate, while clubs from other districts struggled to maintain long-term competitiveness.[68] Most clubs fail to meet AFC criteria and rely on local donations, leaving them unable to provide players with proper training facilities or establish their own youth academies.[69] Additionally, the lack of professional contracts allow players to often receive multiple payments from clubs during transfers.[70][71] The league also experiences regular withdrawals of clubs, as the professional league committee has failed to establish a permanent season calendar and a fixed number of participants.[72]
In international football, Bangladesh were winless for one thousand one hundred sixteen days from 5 April 2006 to 25 April 2009, suffering thirteen defeats during the nineteen games played. The team also failed to advanced past the group-stages of theSAFF Championship for the five editions held between 2011 and 2021. Furthermore, in the second round of theAFC Asian Cup 2019 qualification playoffs, Bangladesh, under Belgain head coachTom Saintfiet, faced a humiliating defeat againstBhutan.[73] Following a 0–0 draw in the first leg in Dhaka, Bhutan claimed a 3–1 victory in the return leg atChanglimithang Stadium in Thimphu. This prevented Bangladesh from competing in AFC and FIFA-sanctioned matches for the next two years.[74] By February 2018, Bangladesh had plummeted to 197 in theFIFA Men's World Ranking, the country's lowest ranking to date.[75] Although Bangladesh performed well at the youth level by reaching the2018 Jakarta Asian Games round of 16, and winning both the2015 SAFF U-16 Championship and2018 SAFF U-15 Championship, the team struggled in AFC competitions.
On 26 June 2019,Dhaka Abahani became the first Bangladeshi club to reach theAFC Cup knock-out phase, by defeating Indian sideMinarva Punjab 1–0.[76] The team eventually crashed out of the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, however, earned enough points to secure a place for a Bangladeshi club in the2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs.[77] Nevertheless, In September 2019, domestic football suffered a setback when police raids revealed illegal casinos in several clubhouses.[78] In the same year, top-tier club,Arambagh KS were relegated to theSenior Division due to their involvement in spot-fixing, match manipulations, live and online betting and other irregularities.[79] Nevertheless, match-fixing remains prevalent in Bangladeshi domestic football, especially in the lower leagues, where gambling syndicates easily manipulate club officials with financial incentives. The BFF is often criticized for failing to properly punish those responsible.[80][81]
Following the establishment of theBashundhara Group-backedBashundhara Kings, domestic football saw one-sided dominance, with the club winning the Bangladesh Premier League for four consecutive seasons and becoming only the second club in the professional league era, afterSheikh Russel KC, to secure the domestic treble in the2023–24 season.[82] They also built theBashundhara Kings Arena, becoming the first South Asian club to own a football stadium.[83] However, despite their domestic success, the club has consistently underperformed at the continental level, failing to advance past the group stage of the AFC Cup in four attempts and crashing out of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, which they entered due to Abahani's 2019 AFC Cup journey. Their disappointing AFC campaigns once again relegated Bangladesh to the third-tier AFC competition, now known as theAFC Challenge League.[84]
Level | Divisions (as of2024–25) |
|---|---|
1 | Bangladesh Premier League |
2 | Bangladesh Championship League |
3 | Dhaka Senior Division League |
4 | Dhaka Second Division League |
5 | Dhaka Third Division League |
6 | Bangladesh Pioneer League |
Level | Divisions (as of2024–25) |
|---|---|
1 | BFF U-18 League |
| Competition | Edition | Winner | Final | Runners-up | Bangladesh's position | Venues | Final venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFC Challenge Cup | 2006 |  Sri Lanka | 0–4 |  Tajikistan | Quarter-finals | 3 (in 2 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| SAFF Championship | 2003 |  Bangladesh | 1–1 (5–4) (p) |  Maldives | Champions | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| SAFF Championship | 2009 |  India | 0–0 (3–1) (p) | Maldives | Semi-finals | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| SAFF Championship | 2018 | Maldives | 2–1 | India | Group-stage | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| Edition | Winner | Final | Runners-up | Bangladesh's position | Venues | Final venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 |  Malaysia Red | 2–1 |  PSM Makassar | DNP | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 1999 |  Japanese Third Division XI | 3–2 |  Ghana U-23 | Group-stage | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 2015 | Malaysia U-23 | 3–2 | Bangladesh | Runners-up | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 2016 |  Nepal | 2–1 |  Bahrain U-21 | Semi-finals | 2 (in 2 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 2018 |  Palestine | 0–0 (4–3) (p) | Tajikistan | Semi-finals | 3 (in 3 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 2020 | Palestine | 3–1 |  Burundi | Semi-finals | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| Edition | Winner | Final | Runners-up | Bangladesh's position | Venues | Final venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 |  City Hall Club | 2–0 | Bangladesh Red | DNP | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 1982 |  Beijing | 4–0 |  Thailand Youth | Group-stage | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 1983 |  Al-Shorta | 2–0 | Harimau Malaysia | Group-stage | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 1986 |  Vevey Sports | 3–2 |  Turun Palloseura | Semi-finals | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 1987 |  Syria | 4–1 | Guangdong | Semi-finals | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| 1989 | Bangladesh Red | 1–1 (4–3) (p) | Korea University | Champions | 1 (in 1 city) | Mirpur Stadium |
| 1993 |  Petrolul Ploiești | 1–0 |  Polonia Warszawa | Semi-finals | 1 (in 1 city) | Bangabandhu National Stadium |
| # | Image | Stadium | Current capacity | Location | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | National Stadium, Dhaka | 36,000 | Motijheel,Dhaka | 1954 |
| 2 | _06.jpg) | M. A. Aziz Stadium | 30,000 | Chittagong | 1955 |
| 3 | .jpg) | Faridpur Stadium | 30,000 | Faridpur | 1960 |
| 4 |  | Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium | 25,000 | Mymensingh | 1961 |
| 5 |  | Sheikh Kamal Stadium | 25,000 | Nilphamari | 1984 |
| 6 |  | Mostafa Kamal Stadium | 25,000 | Kamalapur,Dhaka | 2001 |
| 7 | Tangail Stadium | 25,000 | Tangail | 1998 | |
| 8 | Rangpur Stadium | 25,000 | Rangpur | 1968 | |
| 9 |  | Bangladesh Army Stadium | 20,000 | Dhaka | 1970 |
| 10 | Saifur Rahman Stadium | 20,000 | Moulvibazar | 2005 |
| National teams |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League competitions |
| ||||||||||
| Cup competitions |
| ||||||||||
| Defunct competitions |
| ||||||||||
| Rivalries | |||||||||||
