Australian football team will face Bangladesh football team in Kings Arena, the home ground of Bashundhara Kings, the most successful football club of the country in recent times. This match of world cup qualifiers will be held on June 6.

Bashundhara Kings already clinched the title of local professional football league. The curtain of ABG Bashundhara Bangladesh Premier League will be drawn on May 29.

At the international club level, the audience has seen the famous Indian clubs like Mohun Bagan, Odisha FC and Maldivian champions Mazia playing the AFC Cup matches in Kings Arena. This time, for the first time in the Kings Arena, a strong team will play in Kings Arena having experience of participating in world cups. On June 6, the Australian footballers who have played in the finals of the World Cup six times will play at the Kings Arena. Their opponent in this 2026 World Cup qualifying match is the host Bangladesh.

Earlier, Australia played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. This time the contest will be held at Kings Arena. King's Arena is now the most talked about venue in football. The craze is now being noticed among the spectators around the return match between Bangladesh and Australia. And the gallery is filled with spectators only when the game is played at Kings Arena. As it is the home match of Bangladesh, it is naturally the responsibility of the Bangladesh Football Federation to look after it. But with the venue being Kings Arena, Bashundhara Kings officials are working hard to make the event worthwhile. Security is given special importance here. There are also plans to make it easier for the visitors to get tickets. BFF Vice president and president of Bashundhara Kings Imrul Hassan said, "Each international match has been organized successfully in Kings Arena. The match with Australia will not be an exception. As they’re the World Cup experienced country, the number of visitors is expected to be large.”

 Australia is more likely to win the match in terms of their strength. There will be no surprise even if Bangladesh loses by a big margin. The team led by Jamal Bhuya lost 0-7 to Australia in Melbourne in the first leg of the qualifiers. On June 6, the defeat won’t be so big, the football lovers expect. However, if they can stop Australia with a draw, it will be a big achievement in Bangladesh's football history. Bangladesh will play against Lebanon in the return match in Qatar on June 11. Bangladesh is at the bottom of the group stage with 1 point from four matches. The only point came in a draw with Lebanon at the Kings Arena.

Australia played in the finals for the first time in the World Cup held in West Germany in 1974. The country played World Cup consecutively in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022. In 2006 and 2022, they made it to the knockout stage. They are currently in 24^th place in the FIFA rankings. On the other hand, Bangladesh is at number 184.

Bd pratidin English/Lutful Hoque