Bangladesh and Afghanistan will face each other in the opening match of the 3rd Saff Women’s Championship at Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad at 3:30pm today. It is also the first time Bangladesh will be meeting the war-torn country in the premier women’s football tournament of the region.
All the eight countries from SAARC are taking part in the championship with two-time champions India, Afghanistan, Maldives and Bangladesh in Group A. Group B comprises two-time runners-up side Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh will be taking on defending champions India this Saturday and will wrap up their group commitments this Monday against Maldives. The top two sides from each group will progress to the semifinals. The final is slated for November 21.
In the previous two editions, Bangladesh reached the semifinals and were eliminated in the group stages in 2010 at home and 2012 in Sri Lanka respectively.
