Watch Football at Bangabandhu National Stadium

Bangabandhu National Stadium is located at Motijheel in the heart of Dhaka the capital city of Bangladesh. The stadium is named in honor of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is also known as “Bangabandhu” (Friend of Bengal). As the founding leader of Bangladesh, he is seen by the people as the father of the nation.

Bangabandhu National Stadium was the home of the Bangladeshi cricket team up until 1 March 2005. It is currently mainly used for football. Bangabandhu National Stadium is the only sports venue in the world to have played host to an inaugural home fixture for two cricket test nations. On both occasions India were the visitors – in 1954-1955 when Dhaka was the East Pakistan capital, and again 46 years later when Bangladesh attained Test status, being the tenth nation to be awarded this.

A new stadium, called Sher-e-Bangla, has been built in Mirpur on the outskirts of Dhaka and is reserved exclusively for cricket. The Bangladeshi cricket team has been situated at the new stadium since the end of the 2004-2005 cricket season. Bangabandhu National Stadium was handed over to the national football team at that time. Bangabandhu National Stadium is situated beside the National Hockey Stadium – another popular sport in Bangladesh.

With a seating capacity of 36,000 the stadium allows plenty of room for fans to enjoy one of the favorite sports of Bangladesh. The Bangabandhu National Stadium is floodlit, so players and fans alike can enjoy a night time game. The Bangladesh football team notched up its first win in its new home on 26 December 2004 gaining victory over India. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has officially appointed Syed Nayeemuddin to serve as the national football coach until December 2007. Syed Nayeemuddin has a proven track record which includes guiding India to win SAFF Championship titles in 1997 and 2005. He is setting a goal of regaining Bangladesh’s SAFF title in the south Asian regional football competition taking place in Maldives and Sri Lanka in December 2007.

So, with exciting times ahead for football in Bangladesh, the Bangabandhu National Stadium is going to be buzzing with activity, and fans have much to look forward to.