Bangladesh will try to make an impact as they begin their AFC Under-20 Women鈥檚 Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers campaign against Laos at the New Laos National Stadium, Vientiane, on Wednesday.
The Group H match will kick-off at 6:30pm Bangladesh Standard Time after the group opener between South Korea and Timor-Leste at the same venue.
鈥極ur goal is to make an impact. We achieved a goal by qualifying for the senior Asian Cup鈥� It鈥檚 a very important tournament for us to see where we are in terms of development at the under-20 level,鈥� said Bangladesh coach Peter Butler at the pre-tournament press conference.聽
Bangladesh captain Afeida Khandaker, who also captained the national team that qualified for the AFC Women鈥檚 Asian Cup 2026, vowed to replicate the coach鈥檚 instructions in this tournament and qualify for the finals.
鈥榃e are here to qualify (final stage). So, in every match, we will try to give our best performance. We will follow the coach鈥檚 instructions,鈥� said Afeida.
Bangladesh will face Timor-Leste in their second game on August 8 before facing two-time champions South Korea on August 10.
This will be Bangladesh鈥檚 third attempt, after 2019 and 2022, to qualify for the final stage of the tournament that will be held in Thailand in April 2026.
Thirty-two teams divided into eight groups will contest in the round-robin league format qualifiers, and eight group winners and the three best runners-up will join hosts Thailand in April 2026.
However, Butler kept an unchanged squad, which retained the SAFF Under-20 Women鈥檚 Championship 2025 title in Dhaka on July 21, for the qualifiers campaign.
