Bangladesh came from one goal behind to stick Lebanon in a 1-1 margin in the Preliminary Round 2 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup match on Tuesday at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka.
Bangladesh is ranked 183rd in the World and 38th among the Asian football-playing countries. Lebanon, on the other hand, is the 104th in the world and 19th in the Asian region. Despite being 79 ranks behind the opponent, Bangladesh did a good job of holding a stronger opponent.
It was not long ago when Bangladesh boys experienced a humiliating 0-7 defeat to the stronger Australian opponents in an away match of the round in Melbourne, Australia. Four days later, the Bangladesh boys did impressive and had an amazing comeback in the match against Lebanon.
The miscommunication between the players and recent changes in the best-XI cost the team points, an educated guess from the fans.
Whatever the ranking difference was there, the boys seemed to play on per. The entire match was full of action and excitement.
The first half didn't see any goal.
Bangladesh boys had digested a goal in the 68th minute following a misunderstanding of defender Biswanath Ghosh and Shakil Hossain who failed to intercept an opponent in the danger zone. Defender Tariq Raihan Kazi did his job well but his fellow defenders failed him.
However, the Bengal Tigers needed only four minutes to restore the parity as Sheikh Morsalin levelled the margin in the 72nd minute.
This young man alone carried the ball near the edge of the box and took a powerful shot to rock the goalbar.
A dangerous attempt to save the post by defender Bishwanath Ghosh could result in an own goal in the 74th minute.
In the 89th minute, Sheikh Morsalin was very close to scoring his second but unfortunately failed to do so.
In injury time, Bangladesh got an advantage over the opponent as a Lebanon striker left the ground receiving an injury while his team had no substitution window left. As a result, the Lebanon boys had to play with the remaining ten booters. But, that was not enough for the host to make it to the goalpost till the long whistle.
At the end of the match, the two rivals had to leave the ground sharing points.
Bangladesh boys, in fact, all other opponents, have no Qualifier matches in the remaining time of the year. The next match of round 2 will be played in March 2024.
