Bangladesh’s all four Group E opponents in the World Cup and Asian Cup joint-qualifiers are much higher ranked than the men in red and green in the current Fifa ranking.
Among them, latest Asian Cup champion Qatar are top-ranked side with 55th place in the world while Oman (86), India (101) and Afghanistan (149) also have marginal difference with Bangladesh (183).
National team head coach Jamie Day, who is currently in London for vacation, expected a tough and fantastic experience awaiting for his players and being the underdog in the group, the English coach looks forward to causing an upset or two.
“I am very excited by the draw,” said Day.
“We are not expected to qualify as there are four strong teams who are far higher ranked than us. I think it will be a good experience for the players as the other teams are far greater than us so we can enjoy the group stage.
Bangladesh is placed in the same group (E) as India, Afghanistan, Oman and Qatar during the draw for the second round of the AFC preliminary competition and qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.https://t.co/V2Lo9T8K4G#AFC #FIFAWorldCup #AFCAsianCup
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) July 17, 2019
“We will now start doing our research on the other group teams and give ourselves the best chance of playing well and trying to cause an upset in the matches.”
The last time Bangladesh played India was five years ago during an international friendly which ended in a 2-2 draw.
The last occasion the two sides took on each other in a World Cup qualifying game was back in 1985 where India won both the legs 2-1.
Day said he is eagerly looking forward to the games against India and favorite Qatar.
“We know it's going to be very tough for us whoever we face in the group stage but to get the World Cup host and India will be fantastic experiences and occasion for the staff and players involved,” said Day.
The Bangladesh Premier League is scheduled to conclude by the first week of August and Day said he will regroup the players for the camp in the latter half of the month.
Bangladesh will begin their long World Cup qualifying campaign against Afghanistan away on September 10.
Day commented about his first opponent.
“I don't know much about them so we will have to research but it's a very tough place to go and would be very difficult.”
Bangladesh’s first home game will be against Qatar at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on October 10 before playing against India away five days later.
