Bangladeshi-origin Canadian footballer Shamit Shome is likely to make his debut for Bangladesh in the forthcoming AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers third-round match against Singapore in Dhaka on June 10.
The 27-year-old central midfielder completed all formalities at the Bangladesh Consulate General office in Toronto on Friday to acquire a Bangladeshi passport after getting clearance from the Canadian Soccer Association.
The Bangladesh Football Federation, earlier on April 22, provided birth registration certificate to Shamit, who expressed his interest to represent the national football team on April 11, two weeks after the Sheffield United midfielder Hamza Choudhury debuted for Bangladesh against India on March 25.
鈥業t鈥檚 exciting that everything is going well so fast鈥angladesh football is gradually developing. Player like Hamza Choudhury has already played for Bangladesh. He [Hamza] is a big player, if he can why not me?鈥� Shamit told a Bangladeshi expatriate journalist after completing passport application formalities.
Now Shamit is waiting for his Bangladeshi passport and will to receive clearance from the world football鈥檚 governing body FIFA before featuring for Bangladesh.
鈥榃e hope that he [Shamit] will get a digital version of the passport by Monday, and on Tuesday, we will apply to FIFA for his clearance,鈥� BFF vice-president Fahad Karim told 抖阴精品 on Saturday.
鈥業t鈥檚 very tough鈥ut we are trying and highly expecting to get FIFA approval in time before the Singapore match,鈥� said Fahad, who is assigned to communicate with Shamit.
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, on September 5, 1997, Shamit is the son of Bangladeshi parents 鈥� Manab Shome of Sylhet and Nandita Shome of Brahmanbaria.聽
He made his debut for the Canadian national team in 2020, playing in two friendly matches against Barbados. He has also represented Canada at youth levels, including under-18, under-20, and under-23 teams.
Shamit has been playing for Cavalry Football Club in the Canadian Premier League. He also played in Major League Soccer for CF Montreal.
Bangladesh head coach Javier Cabrera is scheduled to begin team camp on May 31, with an international friendly planned for June 4 or 5, ahead of the tie against Singapore.
