football
AFC Cup Football: Bashundhara Kings to play Kolkata Mohun Bagan Tuesday
Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) champions Bashundhara Kings will play Indian Super League side Mohun Bagan Super Giants of Kolkata in a vital Group D match of the AFC Cup Football on Tuesday evening.
The key match between the two football giants of Dhaka and Kolkata will begin at 8:00 pm at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital.
AFC Cup Football: Bashundhara Kings beat Indian champions Odisha FC by 3-2 goals
Kolkata Mohun Bagan Club topped the four-team Group D list with an unbeaten score, securing seven points from three matches with two wins and a draw, while Bashundhara Kings followed the leader, collecting four points from three matches with one win, one draw, and one defeat.
The two teams have played each other on three occasions since their first meeting in Male in August 2021, where Mohun Bagan Club were in the upper hand with one win and two draws against the Kings and two draws and a defeat.
AFC Cup Football: Bashundhara Kings suffer frustrating 1-3 goal defeat against Maziya SRC
Mohun Bagan Club played a 1-1 draw with the Kings in the AFC Cup in Male in August 2021, outplayed the Kings 4-0 in the AFC Cup in Kolkata in May 2022, and drew 2-2 also in the AFC Cup match at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on October 24, 2023.
In the ongoing AFC Cup,Kolkata Mohun Bagan Club dropped their first points in their previous match, a 2-2 draw with the Bashundhara Kings at their home venue of Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on October 24.
AFC Cup Football: Bashundhara Kings drawn in Group D with Odisha FC, Maziya SRC, Mohun Bagan SG
Meanwhile, in a pre-match press conference at the conference room of Bashundhara Kings Arena on Monday, both teams expressed their optimism about winning the match by playing entertaining football.
Head coach of the Kings, Oscar Bruzon, captain Robson Robinho, head coach of Mohun Bagan Club, Juan Fernando, and captain Subhasish Bose spoke on the occasion.
Both teams also made their final practices at the match venue, Bashundhara Kings Arena, here Monday evening.
Bashundhara Kings, which were placed in four-team Group D of the AFC Cup with Odisha FC, Mohun Bagan Club of India, and Maziya SRC of the Maldives, had already played three matches.
The Kings beat Odisha FC by 3-2 goals in their home match in Dhaka and lost to Maziya in their away match by 1-3 goals in Male, apart from a 2-2 draw with Mohun Bagan Club in Odisha.
Each of the Group D teams of the AFC Cup 2023–24, a 2nd-tier Asian Continental Club Football Competition after the AFC Champions League, will play the other three teams in a home-and-away round-robin format.
Later, the table-toppers will progress to the AFC Cup inter-zone play-off semi-finals.
Booters to fly for Melbourne on Friday to play qualification round of FIFA World Cup 2026
Bangladesh National Football team will fly for Melbourne on Friday (Nov 10) to play the group stage qualification round-2 match of the FIFA World Cup' 2026.
FIFA World Cup: Bangladesh to play Maldives in qualification match on Thursday
Bangladesh will play their 2nd round Group I away match against the World Cup playing stronger Australia in Melbourne on Nov 16.
Soon after returning from Australia, Bangladesh team will play their home match against Lebanon on November 21 at Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka.
Earlier, Bangladesh earned the rights to play in the six-match home and away basis Group I matches of the FIFA World Cup's Asian qualifiers with Australia, Lebanon and Palestine eliminating the Maldives in the round 1 match last month.
FIFA World Cup: Bangladesh to play Maldives in a do or die match on Tuesday
Meanwhile, the Spanish Head Coach Bangladesh team Javier Cabrera on Sunday announced a 30 -member preliminary squad of Bangladesh for the two matches against Australia and Lebanon.
Members of Bangladesh squad:
Goalkeepers: Mitul Marma, Mehdi Hassan Srabon, Pappu Hossain and Mahfuz Hassan Pritom;.
Defenders: Bishwanath Ghosh, Hasan Murad, Tareq Raihan Kazi, Rahmat Mia, Alomgir Mollah, Isa Faysal, Shakil Hossain, Saad Uddin andvRiadul Hassan;
Midfielders: Sohel Rana, Shekh Morsalin, Mohammad Ridoy, Md Sohel Rana, Mojibor Rahman Jony, Rabiul Hasan, Chandan Roy, Jamal Bhuyan and Jayed Ahmed;
Bangladesh qualify for 2nd round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers beating Maldives by 2-1 goals
Forwards: Rakib Hossain, Sumon Reza, Rahim Uddin, Foysal Ahmed Fahim, Dipok Roy, Arman Foysal Akash, Rafiqul Islam and Mohammad Ibrahim.
Selected players, except the booters of Bashundhara Kings, have been asked to report to team manager Amer Khan on Monday (Nov 6) at 11.30 am at the Hotel Amari in the capital to join the residential camp
Man City, Bayern, Madrid and Barcelona can advance in Champions League by extending perfect starts
The Champions League is a showcase of the world’s best club teams and, this week, possible respite for others enduring painful seasons.
Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid all can advance to the Champions League round of 16 with a fourth straight win in their groups. Each is at home against an opponent it beat on the road three weeks ago.
It is a different story for their domestic rivals Manchester United, Union Berlin and Sevilla.
In Manchester, the divide between City and United was clear when the defending European and English champion coasted to a 3-0 win at Old Trafford last weekend. United has stunningly lost five home games already this season, though did scratch out a 1-0 win against Copenhagen, which it plays Wednesday in Denmark.
Bayern has won 16 straight group-stage games in the Champions League and has not lost one since 2017. On Saturday, Bayern humiliated Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in its own stadium, fired by Harry Kane's third hat trick of the season.
Union Berlin is on a 12-match losing streak since Sept. 3, including all three so far in its Champions League debut season. It gets no easier at Napoli on Wednesday.
Madrid began the weekend leading La Liga and is home to the current most thrilling player in world soccer. Jude Bellingham scored twice in a statement 2-1 win at Barcelona last weekend and also in each Champions League game so far.
Sevilla has fired a coach, spent the whole season in the bottom half of the league and is winless in the Champions League. Sevilla now visits Arsenal which is unbeaten at home all season.
Elite supremacy will likely be confirmed when Man City hosts Young Boys on Tuesday, and on Wednesday when Bayern welcomes Galatasaray and Madrid plays Braga.
Barcelona makes it four of the eight group leaders with the maximum nine points. The Spanish champion also will advance with another win Tuesday when it faces Shakhtar Donetsk.
HAMBURG HUB
Barcelona will be the latest Champions League club to visit Shakhtar’s adopted home city of Hamburg for the competition this season. Royal Antwerp is next on Nov. 28.
Hamburg is a hub for international soccer in the next month, even if the German city’s former European champion club is out of that picture.
The port city stages those Champions League games for Shakhtar ahead of the Dec. 2 draw for the men’s European Championship finals tournament.
The Volksparkstadion home of second-tier Hamburger SV has a 50,000-plus capacity and is one of 10 venues for Euro 2024, hosting five games including a quarterfinal.
The stadium is being used by Shakhtar because Ukrainian clubs have not hosted international games for security reasons since the Russian military invasion started in February 2022.
There were chants for Hamburger SV from a 46,000 crowd when Shakhtar lost 3-1 to Porto in September, perhaps showing frustration of local fans whose team last played in the Champions League 17 years ago.
HSV won the 1983 European Cup — beating Juventus and its superstar forward line of Michel Platini, Paolo Rossi and Zbigniew Boniek 1-0 in the final — but is now in its sixth straight season in the Bundesliga second division.
LOSING STREAKS
It is rare for teams that lose their first three Champions League group games to advance to the next stage.
The currently pointless teams — Benfica, Royal Antwerp, Union Berlin — can take inspiration from the two teams who managed the feat.
Atalanta in 2019-20 had the worst possible start to its debut campaign, and only drew its fourth game. Yet Atalanta ultimately went to the quarterfinals and was minutes away from eliminating Paris Saint-Germain, the eventual beaten finalist.
Newcastle also advanced from the first group stage in 2002-03 after starting with three losses.
All three 0-for-3 clubs have away games this week — Antwerp is at Porto on Tuesday, then on Wednesday Benfica is at Real Sociedad and Union visits Napoli.
MIXED IN MILAN
One Milanese team can qualify for the round of 16 this week and the other can be pushed to the brink of elimination.
Inter Milan, beaten finalist last season and Serie A leader, can book its spot with a win at Salzburg on Wednesday.
The situation is bleaker for seven-time champion AC Milan, which lost to Inter in the semifinals in May.
Milan is last in Group F with no goals and no wins before hosting PSG on Tuesday, three weeks after a 3-0 loss in Paris.
Still, the Rossoneri can take heart that only four points separates first from last in a tough group where Borussia Dortmund hosts Newcastle on Tuesday.
Milan fans likely will give a hostile reception to their once revered goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on his return to San Siro. He left in 2021 as a free agent with Milan getting no transfer fee.
Donnarumma got a taste in September of what to expect when he was booed by sections of the Milan crowd playing for Italy against Ukraine in a Euro 2024 qualifying game.
Independence Cup: Dhaka Abahani emerge group champions eliminating Sheikh Russel
Dhaka Abahani Ltd emerged as Group B champions with an all-win eliminating last time runners-up Sheikh Russel KC from group stage of the Independence Cup Football 2023, beating them by 2-0 goals at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj on Saturday.
With the day's feat, former champions Dhaka Abahani not only clinched the Group B title, securing a full nine points from three straight matches to reach the quarterfinal, but also helped Rahmatganj MFS qualify for the quarterfinal as the Group B runners-up.
Independence Cup Football: Rahmatganj MFS stay in quarterfinal race beating Air Force 4-1.
Last time runners-up Sheikh Russel KC, which needed just a draw in the day's match to assure the quarterfinal berth, made an early exit from the season's curtain-raising soccer meet, losing to Dhaka Abahani Ltd.
After a barren first half in the day's match, Brazilian midfielder Jonathan Fernandez put the popular sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit Abahani ahead in the 65th minute, while Brazilian forward Washington confirmed the Abahani victory by scoring one more goal in the 75th minute (2-0).
Independence Cup Football: Police FC emerge group champions beating Sheikh Jamal DC 1-0
Group B champions Dhaka Abahani will play Group A runners-up Sheikh Jamal DC in the 2nd quarterfinal on December 3, while Group A champions Police FC will face Group B runners-up Rahmatganj MFS in the first quarterfinal on the same day.
In the day's other match, three-time champions Dhaka Mohammedan SC clinched the Group C title after playing a 1-1 draw with newcomers Fortis FC at the Bir Shreshtha Fl Lt Shaheed Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj on Saturday.
Independence Cup Football: Both matches end in draws on Tuesday
After the day's match, three teams in Group C—Mohammedan SC, Bangladesh Army, and Fortis FC—secure two points each from two matches, but in the goal difference, Mohammedan emerged as the group champion and the Army finished as the runners-up.
Ukraine midfielder Valeri Hryshy scored first for Fortis FC in the 30th minute to dominate the first half by a 1-0 goal, while local medio Abedin Rakib levelled the margin for Mohammedan SC in the 74th minute (1-1) to carry the team to the quarterfinal.
Independence Cup Football: Rahmatganj MFS stay in quarterfinal race beating Air Force 4-1.
Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society stayed in quarterfinal race of the season's curtain raiser meet, the Independence Cup Football ' 2023 outplaying Bangladesh Air Force team by 4-1 goals in a Group B match at the Bir Shreshtha Fl Lt Shaheed Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj on Friday.
After the day's match, both the Rahmatganj MFS and last time runners up Sheikh Russel KC have secured four points each playing three and two group matches respectively to stay in quarterfinal race from Group B.
Now, the two teams have to wait for the result of Dhaka Abahani and Sheikh Russel KC last Group B match on Saturday (November 4) in Gopalganj to decide the other quarterfinalist of the group.
Read: Independence Cup Football: Police FC emerge group champions beating Sheikh Jamal DC 1-0
Earlier, former champions Dhaka Abahani Ltd confirmed the quarterfinal berth from Group B with one match to spare securing full six points from straight two matches.
Sheikh Russel KC needed at least a draw against Abahani on Saturday to confirm their quarterfinal berth while Rahmatganj will pray for the Abahani's win to assure their berth in last eight stage.
In the day's match, striker Samin Yasar scored twice in the 44th and 55th minutes, forward Mohammad Murad and medio Rofiqul Islam netted one each in the 33rd and 94th minutes respectively for the old Dhaka outfit Rahmatganj MFS, which dominated the first half by 2-1 goals.
Read: Independence Cup Football: Both matches end in draws on Tuesday
Mohammad Jewel Miah scored the lone goal for Air Force team in the 32nd minute.
Bangladesh Air Force team was down to 10 men in the 67th minute of the day's match as their Abdus Sattar got the marching order after receiving the 2nd yellow card.
Three times champions Dhaka Mohammedan SC will play Fortis FC on Saturday (Nov 4) in Munshiganj to decide the remaining quarterfinal slot of Group C alongside Bangladesh Army.
Earlier, two more teams--Bangladesh Police FC and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club --reached the quarterfinals as the Group A champions and runners-up.
Independence Cup Football: Police FC emerge group champions beating Sheikh Jamal DC 1-0
Bangladesh Police FC emerged Group A champions in the season's curtain raiser meet, the Independence Cup Football' 2023 beating former BPL champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by 1-0 goal at the Bashundhara Kings Arena on Thursday afternoon..
In the day's group deciding match, Kyrgyzstan medio Manas Karpov scored the match -winning goal for Police FC in the 26th minute (1-0).
However, both the teams confirmed the quarterfinal berth earlier from Group A with one match to spare, eliminating once giant Brothers Union Club.
Read: Independence Cup Football: Both matches end in draws on Tuesday
In the day's last Group A match, Police FC needed an outright victory to clinch the group title beating Brothers Union 2-0 in the first match and they achieved their target.
Sheikh Jamal DC, which required just a draw in the day' s match to be the group champions with an upper hand advantage of outplaying Brothers Union Club by 4-0 goals, but failed to reach their ultimate goal.against the confident Police.FC.
The Group A champion Police FC will now play the first quarterfinal on December 3 against the Group B runners-up, yet to be decided.
Read: Independence Cup Football : Abahani advance to the quarterfinal, beating Rahmatganj
The Group A runners up Sheikh Jamal DC will play the 2nd quarterfinal also on December 3 against the Group B champions, yet to be finalized.
Former champions Dhaka Abahani Limited also assured the quarterfinal berth with one match to spare against Sheikh Russel KC on Saturday (Nov 4) to decide the Group B champions.
Friday's match: Rahmatganj MFS vs Bangladesh Air Force (2:30 pm) in Munshiganj.
Independence Cup Football: Both matches end in draws on Tuesday
Both the matches of the 13-team Independence Cup Football' 2023 ended in a draw at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital on Tuesday.
In the day's 2nd match, Bangladesh Navy played to a 1-1 draw with Chittagong Abahani Limited in a Group D match at the floodlight Bashundhara Kings Arena Tuesday evening.
Also read: Independence Cup Football : Abahani advance to the quarterfinal, beating Rahmatganj
After the day's match, defending champions Bashundhara Kings assured the quarterfinal berth from Group D with one match spare, securing full three points from one match, beating Navy team by 1-0 goal in the first match.
Both the Bangladesh Navy and Chittagong Abahani still in the quarterfinal race from Group D collecting one point each playing two and one match respectively.
However, they have to wait for the outcome of the Ctg Abahani and Bashundhara Kings last group match on December 1 to decide their quarterfinal fate. But the match will be held after a long break of about one month for AFC Cup and FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Also read: Independence Cup Football : Sheikh Jamal reach quarter-final crushing Brothers Union
Defender Selim Reza put the sailors team ahead in the 12th minute (1-0) while medio Hemonta Vincent Biswas leveled the margin for the port city team in the 74th minute (1-1).
Earlier, in the day's first match, Bangladesh Army played to a goalless draw with Fortis Football Club in a Group C match also at the Bashundhara Sports Arena Tuesday afternoon.
After the day's match, Bangladesh Army topped the Group C list securing two points from two matches.
Two other teams of the Group --three times champions Dhaka Mohammedan SC and Fortis FC -- followed the leaders with one point each after playing one match, and will meet each other on Saturday to decide the Group C champions as well as to determine the two quarterfinalists.
Earlier, three teams---former champions Dhaka Abahani Limited, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Bangladesh Police FC-- reached the quarterfinal of the season's curtain raiser soccer meet from their respective groups.
Also read: Independence Cup Football: Holders Bashundhara Kings manage 1-0 victory over Bangladesh Navy
Independence Cup Football : Abahani advance to the quarterfinal, beating Rahmatganj
Former champions Dhaka Abahani Limited advanced to the quarterfinal of the season's curtain-raising meet, the Independence Cup Football 2023, from Group B, beating old Dhaka outfit Rahmatganj Muslim Society by 2-0 goals at the floodlight Bashundhara Kings Arena on Monday evening.
With the day's feat, the popular sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit Abahani confirmed the quarterfinal berth with one match to spare, securing a full six points from two straight matches.
Earlier, Dhaka Abahani Limited made a good start in the ongoing final round of the Independence Cup Football, beating the Bangladesh Air Force team by 2-0 last Friday.
Abahani will now play Sheikh Russel KC in the last Group B match on Thursday to decide the Group B champions.
Last time, runners-up Sheikh Russel KC followed Abahani in the group table with an unbeaten score, securing four points from two Group B matches.
In the day's match, Rahmatganj MFS, which forced meet's runners-up Sheikh Russel KC to play a goalless draw in the first match, also fought hard with Abahani to restrict them goalless till 75 minutes, but two goals in the last 15 minutes caused their defeat.
Striker Conelius Stewart put Abahani ahead from a penalty in the 76th minute (1-0), while Brazilian midfielder Jonathan doubled the margin in the 83rd minute by placing the ball over the opponent custodian (2-0).
Earlier, two teams—Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Bangladesh Police FC—also reached the quarterfinals of Group A with one match left and will meet each other on Thursday to decide the group champions.
Independence Cup Football : Sheikh Jamal reach quarter-final crushing Brothers Union
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club reached the quarterfinal of the season's curtain raiser meet, the 13-team Independence Cup Football 2023 from Group A crushing old horse Brothers Union Club by 4-0 goals in their first appearance on Monday.
Brazilian midfielder Higor struck twice for the former BPL champions Sheikh Jamal DC in the 11th and 36th minutes to dominate the first half by 2-0 goals at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital on Monday afternoon.
Independence Cup Football: Holders Bashundhara Kings manage 1-0 victory over Bangladesh Navy
Colombian forward Bladimir and local striker Sazzad netted two more goals for Sheikh Jamal DC in the 59th and 73rd minutes, respectively.
Sheikh Jamal DC will play the Group A deciding match on Thursday (November 2) against Bangladesh Police FC, which also assured the quarterfinal berth from the group after beating Brothers Union Club by 2-0 goals last Friday.
Independence Cup Football: Dhaka Abahani Ltd make good start beating Air Force 2-0
In the day's another match, last time runners-up Sheikh Russel KC maintained their unbeaten run in Group B, beating Bangladesh Air Force by a 1-0 goal at the Bir Shreshtha Fl Lt Shaheed Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj on Monday afternoon.
After a barren first half, local forward Dipok Roy scored the match-winning goal for Sheikh Russel KC in the 61st minute (1-0).
13-team Independence Cup Football begins Friday: 3 matches on Day 1
Sheikh Russel KC, which played a goalless draw with Rahmatganj MFS in their first appearance, will play former champions Dhaka Abahani Limited in their last group match, also on Thursday (November 2).
Earlier, Dhaka Abahani Limited made a good start in the ongoing final round of the Independence Cup Football 2023, also beating the Bangladesh Air Force team by 2-0 goals last Friday.
Independence Cup Football: Holders Bashundhara Kings manage 1-0 victory over Bangladesh Navy
Dhaka, Oct 28 (UNB)- Defending champions Bashundhara Kings managed a face-saving 1-0 goal victory over Bangladesh Navy in their first appearance in the season's curtain-raising meet, the 13-team Independence Cup Football 2023 at their home ground—the floodlight Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka on Saturday evening.
Brazilian forward Miguel Ferreira scored the match-winning goal for the star-studded Kings in the very third minute of the match.
Also read: Independence Cup Football: Dhaka Abahani Ltd make good start beating Air Force 2-0
In the day's other match, coming from behind twice, three-time champions Dhaka Mohammedan SC played to a 2-2 draw with Bangladesh Army at the same venue on Saturday afternoon.
Emtiyaz put the Army team ahead in the 9th minute (1-0), while Arif levelled the margin for the traditional lack-and-white Mohammedan SC in the 20th minute (1-1).
Also read: 13-team Independence Cup Football begins Friday: 3 matches on Day 1
The Army team again took the lead in the 24th minute with a goal from Ranju to dominate the first half by 2-1 goals.
Finally, Jafar came to rescue Mohammedan from an awkward situation, scoring the match-equaliser in the 67th minute (2-2).
Also read: Ceremonial draw of Independence Cup Football 2023 held Monday
Earlier on opening day (Friday), former champions Dhaka Abahani Limited made a good start in the ongoing final round of the Independence Cup Football 2023, beating the Bangladesh Air Force team by 2-0 goals.
In Friday's two other matches, a 10-man Rahmatganj MFS forced last-time runners-up Sheikh Russel KC to play a goalless draw while Bangladesh Police FC defeated Brothers Union Club by 2-0 goals.