U-17s chase return to AFC Women’s Asian Cup finals

Bangladesh women’s U-17 football team are set to fly to Uzbekistan on Friday to take part in the AFC Women’s U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers, hoping to qualify for the finals after dissapointing outcomes in the last two editions.

Bangladesh, who will take on Uzbekistan on October 8 before facing the Philippines on October 11 in Group H, reached the final berths in the 2017 and 2019 editions before being eliminated in the last two.

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“Our target is to qualify for the finals. Although it is not an easy task, it is possible if the girls can implement the game plan,” head coach AKM Saiful Bari Titu said at Thursday’s press conference.

It will be a tough task for the women in red and green, who lack international exposure, although they have been together and training for six months and played two warm-up matches against Jordan a couple of weeks ago.

“We know both opponents are stronger than us. We have collected video footage of them and prepared accordingly, while we will also get an opportunity to see both teams during the group opener before our match,” Titu said, adding that his charges may be behind their opponents in terms of physique but are “real fighters on the ground”.

Captain Meghla Rani Roy said the team had good preparation. “We are confident of fighting against them and producing good results if we can carry out the coach’s plan on match day,” said Meghla, who was adjudged the best goalkeeper at the 2025 SAFF Women’s U-17 Championship.

The Philippines, studded with US players, beat Bangladesh 3-1 in the 2022 Qualifiers.

“We want to achieve our target, though the opponents are strong,” deputy captain Alpi Akter said. “We are not taking any pressure and are determined to give our maximum on the ground.”