Bangladesh national football team all set to face Maldives once again this year as the two sides will take on each other in back-to-back fixtures of the first round of joint qualifiers of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup.
The first match will take place away in the Maldives today before the home match in Bangladesh on October 17.
Despite being placed lower in the FIFA rankings, the men in Red and Green defeated the Maldives 3-1 in the group round of the SAFF Championship 2023 in India last month.
The 10 winners from Round One will progress to the second round where top 26 teams will play directly amounting a total of 36 teams in nine groups.
If Bangladesh beat the Maldives, they will have Australia, Palestine and Lebanon in Group One of Round 2. Bangladesh have been historically superior in head-to-head games and also claimed victory in the most recent meeting between the sides. However, Maldives have the better record in the last few years, with June's reversal one of just two losses registered in the last seven games between the two (five wins).
The Red Snappers began their SAFF Championship on a positive note but faltered in their remaining group games, eventually finishing third behind Bangladesh. They will be looking to make amends here and will also have home advantage in the first leg.
A positive result in the first leg could go a long way in determining who qualifies for the next round and both sides will go all out for the victory. We are backing Maldives to claim a narrow win with goals at both ends.
The hosts have not been in action since falling to a 1-0 defeat to Jordan in the SAFF Championship in June 2023. Hassan Maatouk's goal midway through the first half settled the contest.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Afghanistan in a friendly in the last international window. Second-half goals from Jabar Sharza and Shekh Morsalin ensured that parity was restored at fulltime.
The Bengal Tigers will turn their attention to the race to 2026 where Maldives stand in their way. The winner of this first-round two-legged qualifier will qualify for the second round of the qualifiers.
The two sides have clashed on 16 occasions in the past. Bangladesh have a slightly better record with seven wins to their name while Maldives were victorious in six previous games.
Their most recent meeting came in June 2023 when Bangladesh claimed a 3-1 victory in the SAFF Championship.
Six of the last seven head-to-head games have been decided by 2+ goal margins.
Five of Bangladesh's last six games have been level at halftime.
Maldives have scored at least two goals in five of the last seven head-to-head games.