Bangladesh national under-23 football team

The Bangladesh U-23 national football team (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ অনূর্ধ্ব-২৩ জাতীয় ফুটবল দল), also known as the Bangladesh Olympic football team is a youth football team operated under the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). The team represents Bangladesh in international youth football competitions in the Summer Olympics, South Asian Games and the Asian Games, as well as any other under-23 and under-22 international football tournaments, such as the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.^[1]

In 1991, the Bangladesh Football Federation formed its first olympic national team in preparation for the 1992 Summer Olympics qualifiers, which was jointly held in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur. The team coached by Abdul Hakim consisted of: Lahol, Bijon, Mohamed Mohsin Jr., Arif Hossain Moon, Aman, Masoud Rana, Barun Bikash Dewan (vice-captain), Mohammed Jewel Rana, Sohel, Jamrul, Rumman Bin Wali Sabbir (captain), Mahabub Hossain Roksy, Alamgir Hasan, Sadekul Islam Uttam, Shafiqul Quader Munna, Zakir Hossain, Golam Gauss, Ekramur Rana, Mamun Joarder and Imtiaz Ahmed Nakib. Bangladesh were placed in Group D with South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines. In the first game held in Seoul, South Korea, on 18 May 1991, Bangladesh went down 2–3 to Thailand. Masoud Rana scored the olympic team's first ever goal with captain Sabbir scoring a consolation late into the game.^[2] On 24 May 1991, the team registered their first victory by thrashing the Philippines 8–0 as, Imtiaz Ahmed Nakib scored a national record of five goals in one match.^[3][4] In the second phase of the qualifiers held in Malaysia, Bangladesh earned victories over both hosts Malaysia and returning Philippines.^[5][6] The team finished second bottom in the group with three wins and five losses from eight games.^[7]

The team returned to action during the 2002 Asian Games in South Korea. Under Austrian coach György Kottán they failed to win a single game while conceding nine goals and scoring only once in the process.^[8] The 2004 South Asian Games saw Bangladesh produce another disappointing campaign as they failed to advance past the group-stages after suffering a surprise 0–1 defeat to Pakistan.^[9] Nonetheless, during the tournament they earned their first victory in more than a decade by defeating Afghanistan 2–1, on 30 March 2004. The team followed up their dismal performances with multiple unsatisfactory campaigns, failing to win a single match during both the 2006 South Asian Games and 2006 Asian Games.^[10][11] On 14 February, Zahid Hasan Ameli lone strike against hosts Hong Kong earned the team only their second victory of the decade, however, Bangladesh crashed out of the 2008 Summer Olympics qualifiers preliminary round 1, suffering a 1–3 aggregate defeat.^[12]

The 2010 South Asian Games took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Football Federation appointed Serbian coach Zoran Đorđević only three weeks before the tournament.^[13] The hosts opened the tournament with a 3–0 victory over Nepal, on 30 January 2010.^[14] In the following game, held two days later, the team confirmed their semi-finals berth by thrashing Bhutan 4–0.^[15] They finished group winners as Mohamed Zahid Hossain scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Maldives in the final group game.^[16] In the semi-final against tournament favourites, India, who fielded an U-20 team, Tawhidul Alam Sabuz scored the lone goal in front of 20,000 fans present in the Bangabandhu National Stadium and sent the hosts to the final.^[17] In the gold medal match against Afghanistan, the team outplayed their opponents 4–0 and set a new tournament record of not conceding a single goal for five consecutive games.^[18][19][20] This was also the country's first South Asian Games football triumph since the tournament's re-introduction as an under-23 competition in 2002. Nonetheless, coach Zoran decided against extending his contract and departed only six days after the tournament concluded.^[21] Eventually, the team which was branded as the Golden generation were unable replicate the same form during the 2010 Asian Games and also as senior internationals.^[22][23]

Bangladesh began preparation for the 2014 Asian Games in August 2014 under Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif. On 3 August 2014, the Bangladesh Football Federation president, Kazi Salahuddin, held a press conference to motivate the selected players for the national team's camp. The president stated "Our football is going through a difficult period. The way football is running at the moment, it will be hard to sustain things for long. The FIFA fund that we get is not enough to even meet the coaches' salaries which is why we need financial support from sponsors and the government". The president further requested the players to return with satisfactory results in order to attract future sponsorship deals.^[24] The team played a preparatory match against Vietnam after reaching Incheon, South Korea. They suffered a 2–4 defeat.^[25] On 15 September 2014, Bangladesh began the tournament with a 1–0 victory over Afghanistan, which was the country's first victory in the Asian Games after 28 years.^[26][27] However, their chances of advancing past the group stages took a huge blow after suffering a 0–3 defeat to Uzbekistan in the following game.^[28] The team crashed out of the tournament after losing the final group-stage game against Hong Kong, despite dominating possession.^[29]

Bangladesh participated in the 2016 South Asian Games in hopes to defend their title. They qualified for the semi-finals, following a 2–1 victory over Nepal in the final group-stage game.^[30] However, the team bowed out of the tournament after suffering a 0–3 defeat at the hands of India. During the match Bangladesh coach Gonzalo Sanchez Moreno was sent off for shouting at a referee for denying his team a penalty.^[31] Bangladesh finished the tournament by winning the Bronze medal match against Maldives on penalties.^[32]

Bangladesh began preparation for the 2018 Asian Games by playing practice matches with different clubs from South Korea and before the start of the tournament the team's captain, Jamal Bhuyan stated "I would keep this team ahead of the one from four years ago. We have had good training and we are playing practice matches. Everyone is committed to doing well in Indonesia".^[33] On 14 August 2018, Bangladesh began their campaign with a 3–0 defeat to Uzbekistan at the Pakansari Stadium in Cibinong, Indonesia.^[34] In the following game, Mahbubur Rahman Sufil scored to earn the team a point against Thailand and kept Bangladesh's hopes of advancing past the group stages alive.^[35] On 19 August 2018, captain Jamal Bhuyan made history with his goal against Qatar which confirmed the Bangladesh's spot in the round of 16.^[36][37][38] The team suffered elimination following a 1–3 defeat in the round of 16 match to North Korea.^[39] Nonetheless, the team's performance in the tournament was celebrated all over the country.^[40]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

As of 15 August 2025

As of 9 September 2025

The following 23 players were called up for the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification.^[41]

Caps and goals updated as of 9 September 2025 after the game against Singapore.

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months.

The team's head-to-head records against all 28 nations (all of them from AFC) whom they have played to date, including friendly internationals.

As of 9 September 2025.

• South Asian Games
  • Gold medal (1): 2010

• Bangladesh national football team
• Bangladesh under-20 football team
• Bangladesh under-17 football team
• Bangladesh women's national football team
• Bangladesh women's under-20 football team
• Bangladesh women's under-17 football team

• Bangladesh Football Federation