Confident Bangladesh Face Strong Palestine

Bangladesh is going to take on Palestine in their Group I match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 joint qualifiers at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City tonight. The match between Bangladesh and Palestine is scheduled to begin at 12:30am (Bangladesh Standard Time). Bangladesh started their qualifiers campaign with a heavy 7-0 defeat to Australia away before drawing 1-1 with Lebanon at home, while Palestine played a goalless draw against Lebanon and conceded a 0-1 defeat to Australia.

Palestine are quite ahead of Bangladesh in the FIFA rankings as they are placed at 97th, 86 places in front of Bangladesh (183).

Palestine qualified for the round of 16 in the latest AFC Asian Cup in Qatar where they played four matches, while Bangladesh had a two-week training camp in Saudi Arabia before flying to Kuwait on March 17.

Bangladesh had three training sessions In Kuwait following their 11 training sessions and two practice matches against Sudan in Saudi Arabia. In the two matches, they played a goalless draw in the first and conceded a 0-3 loss in the second.

In their previous four meetings, Bangladesh conceded three losses and one draw against Palestine.Bangladesh conceded 0-2, 0-1, and 0-2 defeats in 2011, 2013, and 2021, respectively, after a 1-1 draw in their first meeting in 2006.

Bangladesh head coach Javier Cabrera was aware of the strength of Palestine and hoped for a positive result as the Spaniard was confident and convinced about the preparation of his charges. ‘No complaint about the time we have had to prepare for the game. We have followed exactly the plan we planned. I am confident and convinced that the team is ready to fight for a positive result tomorrow (tonight),’ Cabrera told the media on Wednesday.

Meanwhile Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan informed that the coach warned everybody about the seriousness and importance of the game.

‘The coach warned us already as they are very much physical, strong, and powerful. We have to stick to our plan and that would be the main thing to do. And do what the coaches are saying. (We) have to avoid letting them get set pieces, crossing, and getting in the penalty box,’ said Jamal.