Bangladesh to face India this evening

Bangladesh is looking forward to starting their AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers campaign on a high note when they face their arch-rival India in the much-anticipated grudge match scheduled to be held this evening (Tuesday) at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, India.

The match kicks off at 7:30 pm (Bangladesh time).

The boys in red and green are going to play their first international match of this year after coming off a decent end in 2024. They won three of their four matches last year including two of them are friendlies. Jamal Bhuyan and Co. must be aiming to continue their progression and qualities by frustrating the home side.

Bangladesh, though ranked 185 in the FIFA ranking, always has been proven one of the tough opponents for 126-ranked India in recent years in the SAFF region. Bangladesh studded with a very young side along with a mix of a few experienced players formed quite a strong squad that can cause concern for any opponent on their day.

Bangladesh's biggest strength has been its head coach Javier Cabrera who has successfully instilled a fighting mentality into his boys.

Bangladesh must be boosted by the presence of Leicester City star midfielder Hamza Choudhury, who is possibly debuting for Bangladesh to play the first match of the Asian Cup.

On the other hand, India will start their Asian Cup Qualifying campaign against Bangladesh. This will be the first time Shillong will host a qualifiers match in history and the home side has a lot of expectations on their shoulders. Before the match against Bangladesh they recently played a friendly match game against the Maldives and won by 3-0, courtesy of a goal from veteran Rahul Bheke and star forward Sunil Chettri, who came back to the team from retirement.

India will take to the field with an upper hand with a good record against Bangladesh and they must be confident going into this match and upbeat to give their best to start their campaign positively.

Bangladesh also added some new faces to their team and they are full of confidence in getting a good result against India though there is a big difference in both teams' FIFA Ranking that doesn't define the qualities of both teams.

Both Bangladesh and India have faced each other 31 times, out of which India won 16 matches, 13 ended in draws and Bangladesh won two games. In the last five fixtures, four games have ended in draws and India won one match.