Bangladesh will take on Thailand on Tuesday in a place-deciding game (fifth-eighth) of the ongoing Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2024 at the Hockey Oman Stadium in Muscat, Oman.

Through the match, Bangladesh will be looking to confirm a spot for the 14th Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup.

The ongoing regional competition of the U-21s will provide spots in the Junior World Cup, scheduled in December in India, to the top six Asian teams. The winners of the place-deciders will directly enter at the leaderboard of the top-ranked six-team though they have to play another game to confirm their final rank. 

In the day’s other place decider, South Korea and China will lock their horns at the same venue at 4 pm (BST). If Bangladesh win against Thailand, they will confirm a spot in the Junior World Cup but have to play against the winners between South Korea and China to confirm their final rank between fifth and sixth on Wednesday.

“We’ve come closer to the (Jr) World Cup for the first time. If we win, we will play in the World Cup for the first time and we believe we will win. There will be another match we will play to confirm our final rank (between 5th/6th) but tomorrow's (3 December) match is more crucial,” said Kowsar Ali to the Daily Sun on Monday.

Bangladesh have earlier played seven times in the Junior Asia Cup since their first participation in the 1992 edition held in Malaysia where they achieved the highest fifth rank, but the Bangladeshi boys never qualified for the World Cup. It will be a historical feat if they secure a World Cup spot on Tuesday.

While asked about their preparation, the veteran hockey coach said, “They (players) have no pressure. We’ve told the players that they can play tomorrow (3 December) however they want. We have given them some details about Thailand and their tactics through videos. Now, we are hoping for the best tomorrow (3 December).” 

Bangladesh U-21s have an impressive unbeaten record against Thailand U-21s. The teams locked their horns thrice in the Men’s Junior AHF Cup and Bangladesh won all the matches by 10-0 in the 2014 group stage, 3-0 in the 2023 semifinal in 2023 and 2-4 in the 2024 group stage. 

Meanwhile, Bangladesh earlier ended third in the five-team Pool B of the ongoing competition with 5 points from one win against Oman by 3-1, two draws against Malaysia and China by 2-2 and 1-1 goals respectively and 0-6 goals defeat to Pakistan.