The hosts Bangladesh ended their AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup 2024 qualifiers campaign with a 0-1 goal defeat to Iran in their second and last match of the three-team Group H at the Bir Shrestha Shaheed Sepoy Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur on Sunday (Mar 12).
Bangladesh – who made a winning start in the competition after eliminating Turkmenistan by 4-0 goals in their first group match – had to beat Iran in this match to reach the second round of this age-level competition for the first time.
Iran, earlier, crushed Turkmenistan by 7-1 goals in their first match. After the second win against the hosts, Iran bagged six points to enter into the second round as Group H champions.
On Sunday, Iran’s forward Negin Zandi scored the match-winner in the 85th minute utilising a goalkeeping error.
Bangladesh goalkeeper-captain Rupna Chakma came out of the box to stop Iran’s counter-attack, but neither she nor her centre-backs were able to stop Negin.
Earlier, the hosts, who appeared on the field without their injured captain Shamsunnahar Jr, put pressure on Iran’s defence line throughout the first half but failed to break the deadlock.
After halftime, Iran came alive and started to press Bangladesh through their counter-attacks.
