Bangladesh national under-20 football team

Bangladesh U-20

Nickname(s)	Bengal Tigers
Association	Bangladesh Football Federation
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	SAFF (South Asia)
Head coach	Maruful Haque
Captain	Ashraful Haque Asif
Home stadium	Bangabandhu National Stadium
First colours Second colours
First international
Bangladesh 0–2 Philippines (Kuwait City, Kuwait; 5 April 1975)
Biggest win
Bangladesh 5–0 Maldives (Malé, Maldives; 29 July 1996)
Biggest defeat
Bangladesh 0–6 India (Doha, Qatar; 16 October 2002) Bangladesh 0–6 Iraq (Dhaka, Bangladesh; 27 October 2011) Bangladesh 0–6 Iraq (Abril, Iraq; 8 October 2013)
AFC U-20 Championship
Appearances	6 (first in 1975)
Best result	5th (1980)
SAFF U-20 Championship
Appearances	6 (first in 2015)
Best result	Champions (2024)

The Bangladesh national under-20 football team represents Bangladesh in international youth football competitions in SAFF U-20 Championship, AFC U-20 Championship and FIFA U-20 World Cup, as well as any other under-20, under-19 & under-18 international football tournaments. The team is operated under the Bangladesh Football Federation.

They have qualified for the AFC U-20 Championship six previous times and is yet to qualify for FIFA U-20 World Cup. The team taken part in four editions of the SAFF U-20 Championship, and won their maiden title in 2024. Since 2022, Bangladesh U-20 began taking part in all stages of the AFC Championship. Previously, the U-19 team participated in the tournament.

History

1975−2000

After becoming affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation in 1973, the Bangladesh team were given direct entry into the 1975 AFC Youth Championship & 1977 AFC Youth Championship, although they ended both tournaments without achieving a single victory. The Bangladesh Football Federation however, failed to arrange a regular youth setup as the team did not participate during the 1974 and 1976 editions of the tournament even after acquiring AFC membership.

The 1978 AFC Youth Championship was held in Dhaka, becoming the first major football tournament held in Bangladesh. Coaches Abdur Rahim and Abdus Sadek were given the task of building the team with three months to go. However, West Germany's Werner Bickelhaupt came as the head coach of the team on the initiative of FIFA. Bickelhaupt, the first foreign football coach of Bangladesh's national team at any level, later served as the coach of the senior team as well. Bickelhaupt's team consisted of: Suhas Barua, Moinul Karim, Dewan Arefin Tutul, Abul Hossain, Sawpan Das, Mukul, Kawsar Ali, Abdus Salam, Md. Badal, Ashish Bhadra, Aslam, Hasanuzzaman Bablu, Kazi Anwar, Hasan Ahmadul Haque, Golam Rabbani Helal, Salam Murshedy, Mohammed Mohsin (captain). Standby: Abdul Halim, Majid, Ghaffer, Moni, Wahiduzzaman Pintu. The team leader was Zillur Rahman, joint manager Nabi Chowdhury and AQZ Islam Kislu and assistant coach Abdur Rahim. Bangladesh were drawn into Group C with Singapore, North Yemen, Bahrain and Kuwait. All games were held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

Bangladesh's first match was against Singapore. A quick double from Singapore striker Donang, saw the hosts fall behind 2–0. However, goals from Ashish Bhadra and captain Mohsin meant the game finished 2–2. In the next game against North Yemen, the Bangladesh team created history by winning the game 1–0, thanks to a lone goal by striker Hassan Ahmedul Haque. However, the next match saw Bangladesh being defeated 2–0 by Kuwait, the team ended the tournament with a 1–1 draw against Bahrain, due to a penalty taken by Moshin. The draw meant Bangladesh had failed to reach the quarter-finals finishing a point behind Bahrain, even after going toe to toe with much stronger opposition. Bangladesh then took part in the 1980 AFC Youth Championship, thanks to Sheikh Aslam's goals during qualification. The team finished bottom of their group in the main tournament, having been drawn in a tough group Bangladesh managed earn points against South Korea and Qatar.

Bangladesh almost managed to qualify for the 1985 AFC Youth Championship, after finishing second in their qualifying group alongside South Korea, the team were knocked out of the qualifiers after losing 1–0 in the semi-finals to China. Bangladesh ended up losing the 3rd place match to South Korea. Bangladesh did not participate in the next two out of the five Youth Championship qualifiers, before again qualifying in 1996 after defeating Maldives 8–0 in aggregate. However, in the main tournament, the team disappointed conceding a total of twelve goals in four games, salvaging only a goalless draw against Iran.

2000−present

After being unfortunate to not qualify for the 2000 AFC Youth Championship, the Bangladesh team managed to qualify for the 2002 AFC Youth Championship, held in Qatar. Nevertheless, they failed to win a single game during the entirety of the Championship. Since 2002, the Bangladesh U20 team was unable to take part in a major tournament until the launching of SAFF U-18 Championship, in 2015. The 2015 SAFF U-19 Championship which was the tournaments first edition was held in Nepal. Rohit Sarkar and Mannaf Rabby scored as Bangladesh defeated Bhutan in their maiden SAFF U-18 Championship game. After advancing to the semi-final as group runner-up, Bangladesh came up short during the penalty shoot-out to India as Rahmat Mia missed the last penalty.

Mahabub Hossain Roksy's team made a remarkable comeback during the opening game of the 2017 SAFF U-18 Championship. After falling 3-0 behind, goals from Jafar Iqbal, Rahmat Mia and Mahbubur Rahman saw Bangladesh win the game 4–3. However, after losing to Nepal 2–1, Bangladesh finished in second place due to head to head results. Roxy's team also showed some promising displays during the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers (previously known as the AFC Youth Championship) although they failed to qualify once more. Atikuzzaman's owngoal in the 94th minute against Uzbekistan, lead to Bangladesh's only defeat during the qualifiers. Bangladesh reached the final of the 2019 SAFF U-18 Championship, only to lose to India 1–2. Bangladesh conceded the first goal within two minutes and although they were down to 10-men after Mohammad Ridoy was sent off after a scuffle with the Indian players, captain Yeasin Arafat equalized just before half-time, but the referee sent him off due to his celebrations and Indian striker Ravi Rana scored the winner in stoppage time to seal his sides victory. The teams fate kept on worsening as, they finished bottom of their group during the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers.

Due to the ongoing domestic league season, Bangladesh team for the 2022 SAFF U-20 Championship mainly consisted U-17 players from the BFF Elite Academy and the Bangladesh Championship League. The team was impressive throughout the tournament but had similar fate to the previous edition, as they lost to India in the final.

Coaches

Coaching staff

As of 21 September 2024

Position	Name
Head coach	Maruful Haque
Assistant coach	Md Jahangir Alam Md Mehedi Hasan Siddiqui
Goalkeeper coach	Nizam Majumdar
Physio	Fuad Hasan Hawlader ATM Reaz Uddin
Team Manager	Shaheed Hossain Swapan
Media Officer	Md Hasan Mahmud

Manager history

Year	Head coach
1975	Mohammed Noor Hossain
1977	Anwar Hossain
1978	Werner Bickelhaupt
1980	Abdul Gafur Baloch
1984	Golam Sarwar Tipu
1988	Werner Bickelhaupt
1996	Otto Pfister
1998	Hasanuzzaman Bablu
2000	Abu Yusuf
2002	György Kottán
2003	Abu Yusuf
2009	Shafiqul Islam Manik
2011	Nikola Ilievski
2013	René Koster
2015–2016	Saiful Bari Titu
2017	Mahabub Hossain Roksy
2017–2018	Andrew Ord
2019	Andy Peter Turner
2022	Paul Smalley (interim)
2022–2023	Rashed Ahmed Pappu
2024–	Maruful Haque

Squad

Current U-20 squad

The following 23 players were named in the squad for the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Ishaque Akonddo	(2006-07-15) 15 July 2006	Brothers Union
13	1GK	Md Ismail Hossain Mahin	(2007-10-28) 28 October 2007	Mohammedan SC
23	1GK	Md Shohanur Rahman		Bangladesh Police
2	2DF	Rajib Hossain	(2005-03-10) 10 March 2005	Sheikh Jamal DC
3	2DF	Parvej Ahmed	(2006-12-29) 29 December 2006	Dhaka Wanderers
5	2DF	Md Imran Khan	(2006-02-02) 2 February 2006	Dhaka Wanderers
8	2DF	Md Golam Rabby	(2005-06-05) 5 June 2005	Chittagong Abahani
11	2DF	Md Rakib Hossain		BFF Elite Academy
14	2DF	Azizul Hoque Ananto	(2005-07-19) 19 July 2005	Mohammedan SC
15	2DF	Kamacai Marma Aky	(2005-07-12) 12 July 2005	Fortis FC
16	2DF	Shakil Ahad Topu	(2006-04-06) 6 April 2006	Mohammedan SC
22	2DF	Sirajul Islam Rana	(2006-11-21) 21 November 2006	Brothers Union
4	3MF	Asadul Islam Sakib	(2005-07-29) 29 July 2005	Bangladesh Police
6	3MF	Iftiar Hossain	(2006-10-24) 24 October 2006	BFF Elite Academy
7	3MF	Asadul Molla	(2006-12-26) 26 December 2006	Dhaka Abahani
17	3MF	Ashraful Haque Asif (Captain)	(2005-06-05) 5 June 2005	Mohammedan SC
18	3MF	Raju Ahmed Zisan		Mohammedan SC
21	3MF	Hossain Mohammad Arian	(2006-01-28) 28 January 2006	Brothers Union
9	4FW	Iftasam Rahman Jidan	(2006-10-18) 18 October 2006	Dhaka Wanderers
10	4FW	Moinul Islam Moin	(2005-02-18) 18 February 2005	Mohammedan SC
12	4FW	Md Nazim Uddin	(2006-11-09) 9 November 2006	BFF Elite Academy
19	4FW	Piash Ahmed Nova	(2005-09-25) 25 September 2005	Fortis FC
20	4FW	Mirajul Islam	(2006-10-01) 1 October 2006	Dhaka Abahani

Recent U-20 call-ups

The following players were called up to the squad in the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Mehedi Hasan Srabon	(2005-08-12) 12 August 2005			Bashundhara Kings	2024 SAFF U-20 ChampionshipINJ
GK	Md Asif	(2006-10-20) 20 October 2006			Bashundhara Kings	2025 AFC U-20 ACQPRE
DF	Rostam Islam Dukhu Mia	(2005-12-13) 13 December 2005			Brothers Union	2025 AFC U-20 ACQINJ
MF	Chandon Roy	(2007-05-04) 4 May 2007			Bashundhara Kings	2025 AFC U-20 ACQPRE
MF	Mohsin Ahmed	(2005-09-01) 1 September 2005			Bashundhara Kings	2025 AFC U-20 ACQPRE
FW	Md Rabby Hossen Rahul	(2006-12-30) 30 December 2006			Bashundhara Kings	2025 AFC U-20 ACQINJ
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby TP Training partner WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Current U-19 squad

The following 23 players list were named in the squad for the 2023 SAFF U-19 Championship.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Md Asif	(2006-10-20) 20 October 2006			Bashundhara Kings
	1GK	Md Sohanur Rahman				Bangladesh Police
	1GK	Md Ismail Hossain Mahin	(2007-10-28) 28 October 2007			Mohammedan SC
	2DF	Rostam Islam Dukhu Mia	(2005-12-13) 13 December 2005			Brothers Union
	2DF	Md Imran Khan (Vice-captain)	(2006-02-02) 2 February 2006			Dhaka Wanderers
	2DF	Parvej Ahmed	(2006-12-29) 29 December 2006			Dhaka Wanderers
	2DF	Md Rubel Shaikh	(2006-06-10) 10 June 2006			Bangladesh Army
	2DF	Azizul Hoque Ananto	(2005-07-19) 19 July 2005			Mohammedan SC
	2DF	Sirajul Islam Rana	(2006-02-02) 2 February 2006			Brothers Union
	2DF	Md Yusuf Ali				Bashundhara Kings
	2DF	Md Akmol Hossain Noyon				Bashundhara Kings
	3MF	Samuel Raksam				BFF Elite Academy
	3MF	Moinul Islam Moin (Captain)	(2005-02-18) 18 February 2005			Mohammedan SC
	3MF	Chandon Roy	(2007-05-04) 4 May 2007			Bashundhara Kings
	3MF	Mohsin Ahmed	(2005-09-01) 1 September 2005			Bashundhara Kings
	3MF	Sojol Tripura	(2006-07-03) 3 July 2006			BFF Elite Academy
	3MF	Iftiar Hossain	(2006-10-24) 24 October 2006			BFF Elite Academy
	3MF	Md Insan Hossain				Bashundhara Kings
	4FW	Raju Ahmed Zisan				Mohammedan SC
	4FW	Asadul Molla	(2006-12-26) 26 December 2006			Dhaka Abahani
	4FW	Rahmat Jisan Ullah	(2005-06-03) 3 June 2005			Fortis FC
	4FW	Anik Deb Barma				Wari Club
	4FW	Md Rabby Hossen Rahul	(2006-12-30) 30 December 2006			Bashundhara Kings

Fixtures and results

Matches in the last 12 months, and future scheduled matches
  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2023

Bangladesh v India

21 September 2023 2023 SAFF U-19 GS	Bangladesh	0–3	India	Kathmandu, Nepal
13:45 BST (UTC+6)		Report	Gwgmsar Goyary 1' Naoba Meitei Pangabam 45+5' Arjun Singh Oinam 90'	Stadium: Dashrath Stadium Attendance: 201 Referee: Nadheem Ali (Maldives)

Bhutan v Bangladesh

23 September 2023 2023 SAFF U-19 GS	Bhutan	4–3	Bangladesh	Kathmandu, Nepal
17:45 BST (UTC+6)	Jigme Namgyel 32', 68' Kingzang Tenzi 45+3' Rinzin Dorji 84'	Report	Md Rubel Shaikh 3' Asadul Molla 30' Razu Ahmed Zisan 55'	Stadium: Dashrath Stadium Attendance: 300 Referee: Adnan Anjum (Pakistan)

2024

Bangladesh v Sri Lanka

20 August 2024 (2024-08-20) 2024 SAFF U-20 GS	Bangladesh	2–0	Sri Lanka	Kathmandu, Nepal
15:15 BST (UTC+6)	Mirajul 17' Nova 85'	Report		Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Stadium Referee: Senthil Nathan (India)

Bangladesh v Nepal

22 August 2024 (2024-08-22) 2024 SAFF U-20 GS	Bangladesh	1–2	Nepal	Kathmandu, Nepal
15:15 BST (UTC+6)	Mirajul 43' (pen.)	Report	Samir Tamang 17' Niranjan Dhami 18'	Stadium: Dasharath Rangasala Stadium Attendance: 483 Referee: Afsheen Naseer

India v Bangladesh

26 August 2024 (2024-August-26) 2024 SAFF U-20 SF	India	1–1 (3–4 p)	Bangladesh	Lalitpur, Nepal
15:15 BST (UTC+6)	Rickey Meetei 75'	Report	Asadul Molla 36'	Stadium: ANFA Complex Attendance: 3,243 Referee: Shyamlal Danuwar (Nepal)
	Penalties
	Gangte Pramveer Gwgwmsar Goyary Manjot Singh Parmar Akash Tirkey		Nova Moin Shakil Ahad Topu Asif

Nepal v Bangladesh

28 August 2024 (2024-August-28) 2024 SAFF U-20 Final	Nepal	1–4	Bangladesh	Lalitpur, Nepal
15:15 BST (UTC+6)	Samir Tamang 80'	Report	Mirajul 45+1', 55' Rahul 71' Nova 90+6'	Stadium: ANFA Complex Attendance: 3,425 Referee: Mohamed Jafran Athambawa (Sri Lanka)

Bangladesh v Syria

21 September 2024 (2024-09-21) 2025 AFC U-20 Qual.	Bangladesh	0–4	Syria	Haiphong, Vietnam
18:00 BST (UTC+6)		Report	Kawa Issa 5' Youshaa Knaj 12' Wessam Dukhan 73' Anas Dahhan 79'	Stadium: Lạch Tray Stadium Attendance: 198 Referee: Suhaizi Shukri (Malaysia)

Guam v Bangladesh

23 September 2024 (2024-09-23) 2025 AFC U-20 Qual.	Guam	2–2	Bangladesh	Haiphong, Vietnam
17:00 BST (UTC+6)	Shuntaro Suzuki 75' (pen.) Curtis Harmon 90+1'	Report	Mirajul 6' Moin 87'	Stadium: Lạch Tray Stadium Attendance: 325 Referee: Adam Kersey (Australia)

Bangladesh v Vietnam

27 September 2024 (2024-09-27) 2025 AFC U-20 Qual.	Bangladesh	1–4	Vietnam	Haiphong, Vietnam
20:00 BST (UTC+6)	Nova 41'	Report	Hoàng Minh Tiến 3', 30' Lê Văn Quang Duyệt 42' Nguyễn Công Phương 81'	Stadium: Lạch Tray Stadium Attendance: 4,156 Referee: Suhaizi Shukri (Malaysia)

Bhutan v Bangladesh

29 September 2024 (2024-09-29) 2025 AFC U-20 Qual.	Bhutan	1–2	Bangladesh	Haiphong, Vietnam
17:00 BST (UTC+6)	Asadul Islam Sakib 70' (o.g.)	Report	Asadul Molla 4' Moin 87'	Stadium: Lạch Tray Stadium Attendance: 185 Referee: Tam Ping Wun (Hong Kong)

Competition records

FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-20 World Cup
Host/Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1977 to 2019	Did not qualify
2021	Cancelled
2023	Did not qualify
2025	Did not qualify
Total	–	0/24	0	0	0	0	0	0

AFC U-20 Asian Cup

AFC U-20 Asian Cup											Qualification
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1959 to 1971	Part of Pakistan										Part of Pakistan
1972 to 1974	Did not participate										Did not participate
1975	Group Stage	16/19	4	0	0	4	2	9	N/A	Directly qualified
1976	Did not participate										Did not participate
1977	Group Stage	12/13	2	0	0	2	0	7	N/A	Directly qualified
1978	Group Stage	10/19	4	1	2	1	4	5	N/A	Directly qualified as a host
1980	Round Robin	5/5	4	0	2	2	1	7	N/A	4	3	0	1	9	3
1982	Did not participate										Did not participate
1985	Did not qualify										4	2	1	2	3	3
1986	Did not participate										Did not participate
1988	Did not qualify										2	0	1	1	1	5
1990											4	1	2	1	5	3
1992											4	2	2	0	4	1
1994											3	0	1	2	2	9
1996	Group Stage	9/10	4	0	1	3	3	12	N/A	2	2	0	0	8	0
1998	Did not qualify										3	2	0	1	4	6
2000											3	2	1	0	7	2
2002	Group Stage	12/12	3	0	0	3	0	13	N/A	3	2	1	0	8	2
2004	Did not qualify										2	1	1	0	2	1
2006											2	0	0	2	0	7
2008	Withdrew										Withdrew
2010	Did not qualify										5	1	1	3	6	14
2012											4	1	0	3	3	11
2014											2	1	0	1	1	6
2016											3	1	1	1	3	5
2018											4	2	1	1	5	1
2020	Cancelled										3	0	1	2	2	6
2023	Did not qualify										4	2	1	1	5	4
2025											4	1	1	2	5	11
Total	0 Titles	6/42	21	1	5	15	10	53	—	65	26	16	24	83	100

SAFF U-20 Championship

SAFF U-20 Championship
Hosts / Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2015	Semi-finals	3/6	3	1	0	2	3	2
2017	Runners-up	2/5	4	3	0	1	9	5
2019	Runners-up	2/6	4	2	1	1	8	2
2022	Runners-up	2/5	5	3	1	1	10	8
2023	Group stage	6/6	2	0	0	2	3	7
2024	Champions	1/6	4	2	1	1	8	4
Total	1 Titles	6/6	22	11	3	8	41	28

Honours

• SAFF U-19 Championship
  • Runners-up (2): 2017, 2019
• SAFF U-20 Championship
  • Champions (1): 2024
  • Runners-up (1): 2022

See also

• Bangladesh national football team
• Bangladesh national under-23 football team
• Bangladesh national under-17 football team
• Bangladesh women's national football team
• Bangladesh women's national under-17 football team
• Bangladesh women's national under-20 football team

External links

• Bangladesh Football Federation