Bangladesh at the AFC Asian Cup
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Bangladesh is one of two South Asian teams, the other being India, to have participated in the AFC Asian Cup. They qualified for the main phase of the tournament successfully on their first attempt during the 1980 AFC Asian Cup held in Kuwait. They failed to win any of their four games during the tournament, with Kazi Salahuddin and Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu being the only goal scorers for Bangladesh in the competition. To date, this remains the nation's only appearance in the tournament.
Overall Record
| AFC Asian Cup | Qualification | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
 1956 to  1968 | Part of  Pakistan |
Part of Pakistan | ||||||||||||||
 1972 | Not an AFC member | Not an AFC member | ||||||||||||||
| 1976 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
 1980 | Group stage | 10th | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | Squad | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | |
 1984 | Did not qualify | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 13 | |||||||||
 1988 |
5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||||||||||
 1992 |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||||||||||
 1996 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
 2000 | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | |||||||||
 2004 |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||
   2007 |
8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 19 | ||||||||||
| 2011 | AFC Challenge Cup | |||||||||||||||
 2015 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 |
12 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 41 | ||||||||||
| 2023 |
13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 27 | ||||||||||
| Total | Group stage | 1/18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | — | 55 | 5 | 13 | 37 | 33 | 140 | |
1980 Asian Cup
The county's first opposition was Asian giants North Korea. Regardless of coming into the game as huge underdogs, the team played attacking football against the Koreans. Bangladesh conceded in the 44th and 45th minutes of the match, both due to defensive blunders. Despite the letdown, the team kept on pressing and following a quick counterattack after winning the ball back from the Korean defense, Bangladesh earned a penalty. Kazi Salahuddin converted the penalty in the 60th minute to score the country's first ever major tournament goal.[1] However, the Koreans did not let the celebrations last long, scoring again in the 88th minute after goalkeeper Pintu spilled the ball, leaving the net empty. In the 90th minute a curling effort from Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu made the final score 3–2. In their second game three days later against Syria, Bangladesh suffered a 1–0 defeat, with Jamal Keshek scoring the only goal.[2]
In their third game, Bangladesh were thrashed 7–0 by defending champions Iran. Within 35 minutes into the game, Bangladesh fell 3 goal behind. Their plan of taking Iran head-on failed as their opponents dominated in midfield during the first half. In the second half, the opposition's constant attacking pressure led to Behtash Fariba scoring from a corner in the 80th minute. Iran scored again within 2 minutes of the restart when Fariba again found the net from close range, subsequently completing his quadruple of goals. The last match of the group-stage saw Bangladesh concede 6 against China. Hat-tricks from Shen Xiangfu and Xu Yonglai ended the nation's AFC campaign on a disappointing note. Despite not winning a single game in the competition, Bangladesh's on-field performances were fairly satisfactory, especially considering it was their first major tournament appearance, just four years after the founding of the Bangladesh Football Federation.[3]
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Iran |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 |  North Korea |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 |  Syria |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | |
| 4 | China |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 3 | |
| 5 |  Bangladesh |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | −15 | 0 |
| North Korea | 3–2 | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|
Choi Jae-pil  44', 45'Kim Jong-man 88' |
Salahuddin 60' (pen.) Chunnu 90' |
| Bangladesh | 0–1 | Syria |
|---|---|---|
| Keshek 7' |
| Bangladesh | 0–7 | Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Fariba 11', 34', 80', 82' Roshan 21'Barzegari 27', 87' |
Record by Opponent
| AFC Asian Cup matches head-to-head record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal difference | Points |
 North Korea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | 0 |
 Syria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 | 0 |
| Iran | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | –7 | 0 |
| China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | –6 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | −15 | 0 |
Goalscorers
| No. | Player | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Date | Edition | Goals | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kazi Salahuddin | Sabah Al Salem Stadium, Kuwait City | North Korea | 1–2 | 2–3 | 16 September 1980 | 1980 | 1 | [4] |
| 2 | Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu | 2–3 | 2–3 | ||||||
