Bangladesh's football team began as a touring side raising money for independence
Before Bangladesh existed as a state, a group of footballers toured India playing exhibition matches and handed all of their prize money to the provisional government. That Shadhin Bangla team was the seed of the national side, whose captain went on to lead Bangladesh in its first official match in 1973.
Until 1971 the region played as East Pakistan. During the independence war, the Shadhin Bangla team raised funds through exhibition games in India, and once the war ended a de facto national side called Dhaka XI took the field in 1972. The Bangladesh Football Federation was founded on 15 July that year, joining the Asian Football Confederation in 1973 and FIFA in 1976. Zakaria Pintoo, who had led the Shadhin Bangla players, captained the first official team.
That debut came on 27 July 1973 at Malaysia's Merdeka Cup: a 2–2 draw with Thailand in which Enayetur Rahman scored the nation's first international goal, followed by a 6–5 defeat on penalties. The first win arrived weeks later, 1–0 in a friendly against Singapore. Early years were bumpy. Before the 1978 Asian Games, a captaincy row between the rival Dhaka clubs Abahani and Mohammedan led seven Abahani players to walk out, and heavy defeats were common, including 9–0 against Iran in 1982.
The high point of that era was qualifying for the 1980 Asian Cup in Kuwait, clinched with a 3–2 win over Afghanistan. Bangladesh remains one of only two South Asian countries to have reached the tournament. Drawn with Iran, North Korea, Syria and China, they lost narrowly to North Korea and Syria before being overwhelmed by the other two and going out in the first round. In 1985 they recorded their first World Cup qualifying victories, coming from behind to beat Indonesia in Dhaka and then edging Thailand.
Regional contests have brought the trophies. Rizvi Karim Rumi's two goals gave Bangladesh its first win over India, 2–1 at the 1991 South Asian Games. The team took gold at the 1999 South Asian Games and won the SAFF Gold Cup in 2003, its best results to date, though qualification for a World Cup finals has yet to come.
Source: Bangladesh national football team
