Defending champions Bangladesh begin their SAFF Under-19 Championship 2025 campaign against Maldives at the Golden Jubilee Stadium in Arunachal Pradesh, India, today.
The first match of the three-team Group A is scheduled to begin at 4:30pm Bangladesh Standard Time.
Golam Rabbani Choton, who formerly coached the Bangladesh national women鈥檚 football team until May 2023, will guide a men鈥檚 team for the first time, with two expatriate forwards, Abdul Kadir from Italy and Farzad Syed Aftab from the United States.
Bangladesh left the country on Tuesday, after their final training session at the RG Stadium on Thursday.
In their other group match, Bangladesh will face Bhutan at the same venue on Sunday.
The top two teams from each group will advance into the semi-finals to be held on May 16.
Choton was hopeful of retaining the title. 鈥榃e have kept focus on our work, and the boys looked lively. We鈥檙e optimistic about our chances,鈥�
鈥極ur first aim is to make a winning start against a strong Maldives and then we will take it match by match towards the final,鈥� said Choton.
In the day鈥檚 other match, hosts India will take on Sri Lanka in the Group B opener. Nepal are the other in Group B.
