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Bangladesh are just one point away from qualifying for another continental tournament in less than two months, as Peter Butler’s team only needs to avoid defeat against South Korea in their final Group H match of the AFC Under-20 Women’s Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers on Sunday.

The match between the top two teams in the group will start at 3:00pm Bangladesh Standard Time at the Lao National Stadium KM16, Vientiane, Laos.

Laos and Timor-Leste are already out of the qualification race, having lost their previous two games, and will play a dead rubber in the day’s second match at 6:30pm at the same venue.

Given that the eight group winners and the three best runners-up from the 32-team qualification tournament will join host nation Thailand in the final stage next April, both Bangladesh and South Korea still have opportunities to advance.

Bangladesh are currently leading the four-team group after their consecutive victories over Laos 3-1 and Timor-Leste 8-0.

Meanwhile, South Korea, in second place, defeated Laos 1-0 and Timor-Leste 9-0, matching Bangladesh with six points from two matches but are below due to goal difference.

Butler has retained the squad that played at home to defend their SAFF Under-20 Women’s Championship 2025 title in mid-July for their campaign in Laos.

Bangladesh’s success at the age level followed their senior women’s team securing a maiden entry to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 in Australia after defeating Bahrain and Turkmenistan 7-0 each and Myanmar 2-1 in the qualifiers held during June and July.

Despite consecutive wins, Butler reminded everyone not to be complacent, as the level of competition in the AFC tournament is higher than in the SAFF competitions.

‘We had a great deal of experiment in the SAFF tournament. But this is a completely different level of competition,’ said Butler after the match against Timor-Leste on Friday.

‘We are competing against South Korea, finally facing a really polished team with great quality. On paper, we are not on their level… But I believe we will learn valuable lessons from this tournament,’ added the Englishman.

Butler is not worried about the outcome against South Korea but expects his players to give their best when facing stronger opponents.

‘I think it’s really important to move forward regardless of the result, to play against Korea. I believe every player will give their best for sure,’ Butler concluded.