For the second consecutive match, the Lebanon national football team finished with a draw, this time against their hosts Bangladesh, 1-1, in the second round of Group 9 of the dual Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup. At the "Bashundhara Kings Arena" in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, where the local audience filled the stands, Lebanon managed to score their first goal in the qualifiers after previously drawing 0-0 against Palestine in their opener. However, the "Cedar Men" fell into the trap of a draw after facing a solid defense from a team that fought with everything it had to achieve a positive result in front of its large audience.
Lebanon appeared to have more possession in the first half, but the difficulty of penetrating the numerous Bangladeshi defenders forced the players to shoot from afar, attempting to reach the net without significant success. Before the match reached halftime, the Lebanese team lost center-back Walid Shour due to injury, with Felix Maleki replacing him before the start of the second half. The Lebanese goal came in the 68th minute when Karim Darwish played a cross from the right that caused chaos inside the penalty area, allowing substitute Majed Othman to convert it into the net with his left foot.
However, the surprise came just four minutes later when a ball played back by Hilal Halweh accidentally reached Sheikh Al-Mursalin, who responded with a strong and accurate shot out of goalkeeper Mustafa Matar's reach. Despite regaining control and threatening the Bangladeshi area with several crosses, Lebanon failed to score again and had to complete the six minutes of stoppage time with ten players after substitute Ali Hajj suffered a knee injury.
In the press conference following the match, Croatian head coach Nikola Jurčević stated, "I am disappointed because we definitely aimed for more than a draw, but simple mistakes made the difference, and we paid the price for one against a fast team that excels in counterattacks and plays with great fighting spirit." He added, "I warned the players before the match that their victory over Bangladesh last June means nothing because this game is of greater importance. I was not satisfied with the offensive aspect of the team, as we should have taken advantage of our lead and scored more goals to earn more than this second point in the qualifiers." He concluded, "There is a long time until our next match in this group against Australia in March of the new year, so we must make the most of every preparatory period to improve our level and achieve better results."
Lebanon's lineup included: goalkeeper Mustafa Matar, and players Nasar Nasar, Qasem Al-Zain, Walid Shour (Felix Maleki 46), Mohammed Hayek, Jihad Ayyoub, Ali Tanish (Majed Othman 64), Nader Matar, Karim Darwish (Mohammed Qaddouh 82), Hassan Maatouk (Mohammed Haidar 64), Hilal Halweh (Ali Hajj 75).
