Bangladesh earn dramatic draw against Maldives

A late goal by right winger Saad Uddin helped Bangladesh to earn a dramatic 1-1 draw against host Maldives in the first leg of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier held on Thursday at the National Stadium in Male, reports BSS.
Bangladesh was on the brink of defeat in the match. Bangladesh were trailing 1-0 at the end of the stipulated time. Then the referee added five minutes of injury time.
Bangladesh equalised the margin in the second minute of the added time. Saad Uddin sent the ball with a perfect placing shot off a pass from Rakib Hossain to deny Maldives certain victory.
At one stage the match was however heading for a certain goalless draw, but it was forward Niaz Hassan who finally broke the deadlock scoring the first goal for Maldives in the 87th minute.
Bangladesh played with more dominance in the second half than the first half. However, the hosts launched the first attack in the 18th minute but skipper Ali Fasir's well judge shot from the right wing returned to play after hitting the cross bar.
Bangladesh also got two chances immediately after following the attack.
Earlier, both teams got several chances to score but failed to convert any of those into a goal lack of proper finishing.
Bangladesh got the easiest chance of the match in the second half as Faisal Ahmed Fahim could not take the shot properly before the open net as the ball sailed harmlessly over the cross bar.