Bangladesh beat visiting Maldives by 2-1 goals in the second leg of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier held on Tuesday at Bashundhara Kings Arena in the city.
In the second phase, Bangladesh will play against Australia, Palestine, and Lebanon in the 'I' group.
Each team will play six matches in a two-legged format meaning Bangladesh will get six matches in total.
Bangladesh forward Rakib Hossain broke the deadlock in the 11th minute before Maldives' Ibrahim Aisham scored the equalizer in the 36th minute.
But at the beginning of the second half, Faisal Ahmed made the scoreline 2-1.
In the 59th minute of the match, Sohel Rana saw a red card and Bangladesh became a ten-man team. However, the hosts left the field with a 2-1 victory against Maldives despite playing with one less player for most of the time.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
