Ritu Porna brace takes Bangladesh to verge of history

Ritu Porna Chakma scored a stunning brace to put Bangladesh on the brink of their first-ever appearance at the AFC Women's Asian Cup, as they defeated group favourites Myanmar 2-1 in their second Group C qualifying fixture at Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon on Wednesday.

The talented left-footer from Rangamati opened the scoring in the 19th minute, pouncing on the rebound from her own free-kick and curling the ball past the diving Myanmar goalkeeper, as Bangladesh enjoyed the better of the early exchanges.

Despite sitting 73 places above Bangladesh in the FIFA rankings, hosts Myanmar struggled to assert dominance. As they pushed desperately for a winner, Ritu Porna dealt the decisive blow in the 72nd minute, unleashing a superb left-footed strike from the edge of the box to beat the Myanmar keeper and silence the home crowd.

Myanmar did manage to pull one back in the 89th minute, with Win Win heading in a low cross, but Bangladesh held firm to secure a memorable victory and move to the top of the group table.

The win puts Bangladesh on six points from two matches, ahead of their final group clash against bottom-ranked Turkmenistan on Saturday. Myanmar, with three points, will face Bahrain earlier that day.

With only the group winners advancing to the AFC Women's Asian Cup — set to take place in Australia next March — Bangladesh now require just a draw against Turkmenistan to secure their historic qualification.

Bangladesh's women's team have never before featured in the Asian Cup, having previously taken part in the 2014 and 2022 qualifying campaigns — where they lost all five matches, conceding 25 goals without reply.

Topping the group could also pave the way for Bangladesh to qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games.