SPORTS DESK:

Australia national football team arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday to play their second-leg match of the joint qualifiers (round 2) of FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 against hosts Bangladesh, scheduled to be held on Thursday at the Bashundhara Kings Arena.

Socceroos earlier on 29 May announced a 25-member squad for their remaining two matches of four-team Group I against Bangladesh and Palestine, though it was yet to be confirmed whether they came here with a full squad.

Australia arrived in Dhaka via TG321 flight after completing an extended training camp in Thailand, under head coach Graham Arnold.

They will leave Dhaka just after the match against the men in red and green to host Palestine in their home match at the HBF Park in Western Australia on 11 June.

Socceroos are currently leading the point table of the four-team group with 12 points from four wins and have already qualified for round 3 maintaining an all-win record with two matches left.

Palestine are second with seven points from two wins, one draw and one defeat while Lebanon are third with two points from two draws and two defeats.

Bangladesh are bottom fourth with one point from three defeats and one draw.

After hosting Socceroos, the men in red and green will leave for Qatar to play their last group match (away) against Lebanon on 11 June at the neutral venue – Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

Bangladesh, under head coach Javier Cabrera, started their campaign in round 2 of the joint qualifiers with a humiliating 0-7 goals defeat to Australia but made a good comeback with a 1-1 draw against Lebanon, both in November.

However, the men in red and green lost both legs (home and away) against Palestine by 0-5 and 0-1 goals in their next two group matches, held in March.

Bangladesh earlier lost to Socceroos two times in the double-leg joint qualifiers (round 2) of FIFA World Cup 2018 and AFC Asian Cup 2019.

They lost the away match by 0-5 goals at the Perth Oval in Perth while they lost the home match by 0-4 goals at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka in 2015.