The Bangladesh women鈥檚 under-20 football team reached Laos on Saturday for their Group H qualifying matches of the AFC U-20 Women鈥檚 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers.
With a strong performance in the SAFF U-20 Women鈥檚 Championship, Peter Butler鈥檚 charges will seek further success, with their primary objective to make a winning start against host Laos on August 6.
Bangladesh will then play Timor-Leste on August 8 before taking on two-time champions South Korea on August 10. All three matches will be held at the New Laos National Stadium in Vientiane.
Butler kept an unchanged squad, which retained the SAFF Under-20 Women鈥檚 Championship 2025 title in Dhaka on July 21.
This marks Bangladesh鈥檚 third attempt following their efforts in 2019 and 2022, for their maiden qualification in the final stage. The 12th edition finals will be held in Thailand in April 2026.
A total of 32 teams divided into eight groups will contest in a single round-robin format in the qualifiers, the eight group winners and the overall three best runners-up will join hosts Thailand in the 12-team tournament.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Timor-Leste are set to make their debut. While Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Northern Mariana Islands, Palestine, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan are hoping to qualify for the first time.