Agency:
Bangladesh capped off their AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 Qualifiers Group C campaign with a sterling 7-0 win against Turkmenistan on Saturday.
The big-margin victory kept Peter Butler’s side perfect with nine points as they start looking forward to their first ever Finals appearance at Australia 2026.
A confident Bangladesh took the game to Turkmenistan and were ahead within four minutes of play thanks to a magnificent long range strike from Sapna Rani, who finished with aplomb after being set up by Tohura Khatun.
The South Asian side doubled their lead two minutes later, Shamsunnahar smashing home the rebound after Turkmenistan goalkeeper Asyha Amanberdiyeva had saved from Afeida Khandaker’s header.
Bangladesh were relentless and scored again in the 13th minute through Shamsunnahar before Monika Chakma capitalised on a defensive lapse by the Central Asian side to net three minutes later.
Amanberdiyeva’s mistake saw Ritu Porna’s long range strike in the 17th minute bounce off her and over the goal line with the custodian then replaced by Elnura Maksyutova.
Maksyutova, however, also suffered misfortune as her miskick in the 20th minute gifted the ball to Porna, who squared for Tohura Khatun to sweep home with Porna taking the score to 7-0 with a fantastic curler in the 41st minute.
Turkmenistan improved after the interval and produced a solid defensive performance to shut out further Bangladesh attempts as the score remained unchanged until the final whistle.
