5 Bangladeshi players set to shine in AFC Women’s Champions League

Hold onto your hats, football fans – Bangladesh’s brightest female stars are storming the AFC Women’s Champions League, and they are doing it in style! 

No club from Bangladesh has ever qualified for Asia’s elite women’s football tournament, but who needs a domestic team when you’ve got talent that transcends borders?

Meet Afeeda Khandaker, Tohura Khatun, Shamsunnahar Junior, Shaheda Akter Ripa, and Swapna Rani, the Fab Five of Bangladesh women’s football, who are making history by pulling on the jersey of Bhutan’s Royal Thimphu College in this year’s AFC Women’s Champions League!

Yes, you read that right. While Bangladesh awaits a club breakthrough, it’s these trailblazing lionesses who are representing South Asian pride on the continental stage, flying the green-and-red high under a Bhutanese badge. 

Tohura and Shamsunnahar have already been dominating the Bhutanese domestic league with Royal Thimphu College, with Ripa joining them on the pitch shortly after. Afeeda and Swapna, meanwhile, have been specially registered exclusively for the Champions League, a testament to their in-demand skill and growing reputation.

Fresh from training, the squad, now powered by its Bangladeshi contingent, left Bhutan for Laos on Thursday, ready to take on Group D of the tournament, which kicks off August 25.

And it’s a tough draw – they’ll face clubs from Chinese Taipei, North Korea, and hosts Laos in a high-pressure group stage running until 31 August.

This isn’t just a debut – it’s a statement.

Last season, Bangladeshis Rituparna Chakma, Maria Manda, and Monica Chakma lit up the same tournament with Royal Thimphu College (though Sabina Khatun missed out due to registration issues). This year, the flame burns even brighter.

“We may not be playing under the Bangladesh flag but we carry our nation in our hearts,” said one player. “Every pass, every goal, it’s for our country.” 

From Dhaka’s dusty pitches to the grand stage of Asian football – these women are rewriting the rules.

Will this be the dawn of a new era for Bangladeshi women in continental football?

One thing’s for sure: Asia, meet your new queens.