A 32-member Bangladesh National Football team left the capital for Qatar Friday to play in the next month's Group E 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers.
Bangladesh team left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Doha at 11am on a Qatar Airlines flight with 23 players and nine officials.
Two footballers of the team – Mohammad Ibrahim and Mahbubur Rahman Sufil – failed to accompany the Qatar-bound team as they reportedly tested Covid-19 positive.
Bangladesh will play against Afghanistan, India and Oman in their remaining three Group E qualifiers on June 4, 7 and 15 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Qatar's Doha.
Earlier, national team captain Jamal Bhuiyan expressed dissatisfaction over the failure of the Bangladesh Football Federation to arrange practice matches in Saudi Arabia.
Bangladesh football team was supposed to leave for Saudi Arabia last Monday on a five-day visit for training and to play a couple of warm-up matches as part of their preparation for the 2022 World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.