Lebanon recorded a second consecutive match with a draw, this time against Bangladesh with a score of 1-1, on the second day of the double Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup.
On the pitch of the “Bashundara Kings Arena” in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, where the stands were packed with local fans, the Lebanese team managed to score their first goal in the qualifiers after drawing 0-0 with Palestine at the start of the qualifiers. However, the “Cedars” were trapped in the draw trap after facing a solid defense from the Bangladeshi team, who fought with all their might to get a positive result in front of their big crowd.
Lebanon seemed to be the more dominant side in the first half, but the difficulty of penetrating the opposing team’s numerous defenses prompted their players to shoot from a distance, attempting to reach the net without much success.
Before halftime, the Lebanese lost defender Walid Shour to injury and he was replaced by Felix Melki before the start of the second half, which saw the Lebanese score in the 68th minute when Karim Darwich played in a cross from the right, creating confusion inside the penalty area and giving substitute Majd Osman the chance to deftly convert it into a goal with his left foot.
However, the surprise came four minutes later when the ball played by Hilal El Helwe mistakenly fell to Sheikh Al-Mursaline, who quickly struck it with a powerful, accurate shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Mustafa Matar.
Despite the Lebanese team regaining control and threatening the Bangladeshi zone with several cross balls, they failed to shake the net a second time. The team was forced to play the extra six minutes with ten players after Ali Al-Haj suffered a knee injury.
At the post-match press conference, Croatian coach Nikola Jurčević said, “I’m disappointed because we obviously aspired to more than a draw, but simple mistakes made the difference, and we paid the price for one of them against a fast team that excels at counter-attacks and plays with a high fighting spirit.”
He added: “I warned the players before the match that their victory over Bangladesh last June means nothing, as this match is of greater importance. I wasn’t happy with the team’s attacking approach. We should have taken advantage of our lead and scored more goals to get more than this point in the qualifiers.”
He concluded, “There’s plenty of time until our next game in this group when we face Australia in March of the New Year, so we need to take advantage of every period of preparation to improve our level and get better results.”
Lebanon was represented by goalkeeper Mustafa Matar and players Nassar Nassar, Kassem El-Zain, Walid Shour, Felix Melki, Mohammad El-Hayek, Jihad Ayoub, Ali Tneish, Majed Osman, Nader Matar, Karim Darwich, Mohammed Kadouh, Hassan Maatouk, Mohammed Haidar, Hilal El Helwe, and Ali Al-Haj.
