Bangladesh’s national football team has struggled to improve its FIFA ranking because of limited opportunities to play international matches, said State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque.FIFA rankings are determined largely by the number of international matches a team plays, the quality of its opponents and the results achieved, he said while responding to a question from Cumilla-4 MP Hasnat Abdullah at the parliament today.The advanced football nations of the world usually play 12-15 international matches in a calendar year. The Bangladesh national football team played only eight international matches in 2025,” he said in his scripted reply.Aminul, a former captain of the Bangladesh national football team and one of the country’s finest goalkeepers, said Bangladesh currently ranks 181st in the FIFA Men’s World Ranking, compared with 192nd in 2023.He said the Bangladesh Football Federation receives funding from FIFA, the AFC and sponsoring organisations. However, organising international matches and overseas tours is costly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Since organising international matches and travelling abroad is expensive, it is not always possible to organise or participate in the desired number of matches due to financial constraints,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The state minister said Bangladesh football has shown positive changes in recent times. The inclusion of talented players, including expatriate footballers Hamza Chowdhury, Somit Som and Fahmidul Islam, has strengthened the national team.He noted that Bangladesh defeated European nation San Marino 2-1 on June 5, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Aminul, it was the first time the national team had toured Europe and defeated a European country since the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government took office. He said the victory had generated widespread enthusiasm among football fans and further increased public interest in Bangladeshi football.The FIFA Men’s World Ranking, introduced in December 1992, is the official ranking system for men’s national football teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bangladesh’s highest FIFA ranking was 110th in April 1996, while its lowest was 197th between February and May 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangladesh’s national football team has struggled to improve its FIFA ranking because of limited opportunities to play international matches, said State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque.FIFA rankings are determined largely by the number of international matches a team plays, the quality of its opponents and the results achieved, he said while responding to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n