Bangladesh women鈥檚 football team coach Peter Butler vowed to embrace the challenge and make a significant impression in their inaugural appearance at the AFC Women鈥檚 Asian Cup 2026, following the tournament draw held at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday.
Bangladesh were drawn against defending champions China, North Korea, and Uzbekistan in Group B of the competition to be held in Australia from March 1 to 21 next year.
Butler鈥檚 charges, ranked 128th, had become the first team from outside the top 100 in FIFA rankings to qualify for the showpiece event.
They are the lowest-ranked side of the 12-team tournament, while North Korea (9), China (17), and Uzbekistan (51) are much higher-ranked.
鈥業t鈥檚 a very strong group. But I鈥檒l look forward to it. I think you better get to embrace it鈥� Anything is possible on the ground; rather embrace the challenge... I will say everybody out there, we will give as good as we get. And the most important thing is to make an impact,鈥� Butler was quoted as saying in a video message provided by the BFF.
鈥楢s for the games, hopefully we will have some practice games, some friendly fixtures. I probably already know my squad if I鈥檓 being perfectly honest with you. There would be a few tweaks and a few changes, but the Under-20 team has done really well. They will be playing a huge part in the selection of the senior national team. And then we鈥檝e got other players whom we can call on if needed.
鈥榃e played Chinese Taipei 12 months ago and gave a very credible performance. Since then we gradually changed the group, and the team got better consistently. We are better now than we were 12 months ago鈥� I just feel we are on a learning curve. China will be very difficult as well as North Korea.鈥�
When the captains of seven out of the 12 participating nations posed with the AFC Women鈥檚 Asian Cup trophy against the iconic backdrop of the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday, the absence of Bangladesh was clearly evident.
Butler and Bangladesh captain Afeida Khandokar were invited to attend the ceremony, but no one was there to represent Bangladesh in the ceremony.
Bangladesh Football Federation women鈥檚 wing chairman Mahfuza Akhter Kiron defended BFF鈥檚 position of not sending the coach or captain to the ceremony.
鈥榃e have the same coach and captain for the Bangladesh Under-20 Women鈥檚 team. And, they are now in preparation for the AFC U-20 Women鈥檚 Asian Cup (2026) Qualifiers and will leave for Laos on August 2. It would take at least four to five days if we send them to the draw ceremony. It could hamper their preparation, so we decided not to send them,鈥� Kiron told 抖阴精品.
Bangladesh will take on China in the group opener at the Western Sydney Stadium on March 3 before facing North Korea at the same venue on March 6. They will take on Uzbekistan in their final group game at the Perth Rectangular Stadium on March 9.
Australia (15th), South Korea (21st), Iran (68th), and the Philippines (41st) are in Group A, while Japan (seventh), Vietnam (37th), India (68th), and Chinese Taipei (42nd) are in Group C.
On completion of the group stage, the top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed sides will advance to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finalists will also qualify for the 2028 Olympics.
The four semi-finalists will directly qualify for the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup in Brazil in 2027, while the losing sides from the quarter-finals will advance to the playoffs, where two more spots for the global showpiece event will be at stake.
Earlier, Bangladesh confirmed their qualification for the continental battle earlier this month, topping Group C with an all-win record in Myanmar. They edged Myanmar 2-1 while thrashing Bahrain 7-0 and Turkmenistan by the same margin.
