Following their heartbreaking 4-3 defeat to Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers in Dhaka on Thursday night, the Bangladesh football team departed for Hong Kong on Friday to compete in the return-leg match.
The match is scheduled to be held at the Kai Tak Stadium on October 14.
As only the top team from every group will advance to the AFC Asian Cup, bottom-placed Bangladesh have a remote chance of qualifying after their losses against Hong Kong and Singapore 2-1 and a goalless draw against India.
Hong Kong (146th), who are 38 places ahead of Bangladesh (184th) in the current FIFA rankings, are topping the four-team Group C standings with seven points with their wins over Bangladesh and聽India 1-0 and a goalless draw against Singapore.
Before leaving the country, Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan rued his team鈥檚 history of conceding late goals.
鈥楾his team [Bangladesh] has a history of conceding late goals. If we want to win matches, we have to focus more on the game,鈥� Jamal told reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
In a match that swung like a pendulum on Thursday, the hosts went 1-0 up early through a moment of Hamza Choudhury鈥檚 brilliance but ended up squandering the lead not once, but twice, before conceding the winner in the final minute of stoppage time.
Hamza opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a stunning free-kick from a tight angle that sent the crowd into raptures.
Hong Kong levelled just before half-time when the hosts failed to clear a corner, allowing Everton Camargo to pounce from close range.
The second half began in a similar fashion, with another defensive lapse gifting substitute Raphael Merkies (50th) an easy finish to make it 2-1.
The same player struck again 15 minutes later after a simple cutback found him unmarked inside the box鈥攁 sequence that exposed Bangladesh鈥檚 shaky organisation at the back.
With 3-1 down and seemingly beaten, Javier Cabrera鈥檚 men somehow clawed their way back into the contest.
Shekh Morsalin capitalised on a goalkeeping error in the 84th minute, before substitute Shamit Shome headed in an injury-time equaliser to send the stadium into delirium.
But the celebrations barely lasted two minutes. Straight from kick-off, Hong Kong surged forward unchallenged, and Merkies completed his hat-trick with a composed finish to seal a 4-3 victory and silence the home crowd.
In their other two games, Bangladesh will face India at home on November 18 before taking on Singapore in an away game on March 31, 2026.