Bangladesh aims for a strong start to their AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifying campaign as they clash with rivals India in a highly anticipated match scheduled for this evening (Tuesday) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, India.
The match is set to begin 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. The Jamal Bhuyan and Co. must be aiming to continue their progression and qualities by frustrating the home side.
Bangladesh, though ranked 185 in FIFA ranking, always has been proved one of the tough opponents for 126 ranked India in the recent years in the SAFF region.
Bangladesh studded with very young side along with a mix of few experienced players formed quite strong squad that can cause the concern any opponent on their day.
Bangladesh biggest strength has been their head coach Javier Cabrera who has successfully instilled the fighting mentality into his boys.
Bangladesh must be boosted by the presence Leicester City star midfielder Hamza Choudhury, who is possible 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 have 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 off a goals from veterans Rahul Bheke and star forward Sunil Chettri, who came back in the team from retirement.
India will take to the field with an upper hand with 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 confident in getting a good result against India though there is a big difference in both team's FIFA Ranking that doesn't define the qualities of both teams.
India vs Bangladesh head-to-head records
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.
