Bangladesh miss Junior Hockey World Cup

Collected Photo

Bangladesh’s hopes of qualifying for the Junior Hockey World Cup ended after a 6-2 defeat to Japan in the fifth-place playoff of the Under-20 Asia Cup on Friday.

Bangladesh needed a win over Japan to keep their World Cup hopes alive, but the heavy defeat ended their campaign.

Bangladesh had qualified for the previous Junior Asia Cup in Oman in 2024, finishing fifth to secure a World Cup berth. The top six teams from the Asia Cup qualify for the World Cup.

At the previous Junior World Cup, held in Chennai and Madurai, India, Bangladesh finished 17th among 24 teams. Amirul Islam was one of the standout performers, scoring 18 goals, including five hat-tricks.

Mohammad Mehedi and Munna Islam scored Bangladesh’s two goals against Japan on Friday.

Bangladesh had lost to China and Malaysia in their first two group matches, before beating Kazakhstan and then losing to Pakistan.

Bangladesh have one match remaining against Chinese Taipei on Saturday. A win would see them finish seventh in the tournament.