FIFA, AFC QualifiersBangladesh to play Qatar in Doha Dec 4

Bangladesh National Football team will play hosts Qatar in Doha on December 4 in one of their four remaining Group E Joint Qualifications matches of the FIFA World Cup Qatar' 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 that postponed twice this year for Covid-19 pandemic.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) approved the fresh schedule for Qatar-Bangladesh return group match on December 4 after getting the clearance from FIFA, following the appeal of Qatar for hosting the match with the consent of Bangladesh.

The remaining Group E matches were originally scheduled for March-April and then shifted to October-November this year, but the coronavirus situation across the countries forced to postpone both the previous schedule.

In the recent past schedule (postponed) of the five-team group, Bangladesh due to play Afghanistan, India and Oman on Oct 8, Nov 12 and 17 respectively in their home matches while due to meet the Asian champions Qatar in their lone away match on Oct 13 in Doha.

However, the fixture of the remaining three Group E matches of Bangladesh yet to be confirmed, apart from the match against Qatar.

Earlier, Bangladesh started their campaign in FIFA and AFC joint qualifiers last year with a 0-1 defeat against Afghanistan in the first match in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe on September 10, conceded a 0-2 goals defeat against Asian champions Qatar in the second match in Dhaka on October 10, played to a 1-1 draw against India in their third match in Kolkata on October 15 and conceded 1-4 goals defeat against Oman in the fourth match at the Seeb Sports Stadium in Al Seeb city of Oman on November 14.

In the five-team Group E, Qatar is now leading the point table with 13 points from five matches while Bangladesh are at the bottom place with one point from four matches. Among others, Oman secured 12, Afghanistan 4 and India 3 points.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh national football team, now groomed under five foreign coaching staffs headed Jamie Day to return to international football after about ten months through this month's "Mujib Borsho FIFA International Football Series' 2020 against Nepal.

Nepalese Football team arrived in the capital last Thursday (Nov 5) by special chattered flight to play two FIFA International Football Series with hosts Bangladesh on November 13 and 17 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here.

Both the matches will kick-off at 5 pm (Bangladesh time) with some 8,000 fans is likely to be allowed to witness the match at the stadium following the health guideline.