Bangabandhu National Stadium

The Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka is the only venue in the world to have hosted an inaugural home fixture for two Test nations: Pakistan and Bangladesh.[5] India were the visitors on both occasions: in 1954–55, when Dacca was the capital of East Pakistan, and in 1976–77, when the first unofficial Test match was held between Bangladesh against the touring MCC from England. And the following year the Sri Lankan national team visited Bangladesh to play a few one-day, two-day and three-day unofficial matches against BCCB XI and Bangladesh National team. After that teams like Deccan Blues from India and MCC toured Bangladesh several times to play against BCCB XI and Bangladesh national team respectively.

Alongside cricket, the stadium was also known to host the historic Dhaka League, which was the country's premier football league in the 80s and 90s. In the 80s when football's popularity was skyrocketing, the Dhaka Derby attracted thousands of fans into the stadium from all over the country.[2]

The stadium has a history of hosting number of historic sports event starting from cricket, football, hockey to boxing. In February 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali fought an exhibition boxing match at the stadium, the then Dacca Stadium,[3] with a 12-year-old Bengali boy.[4]

With a purpose-built cricket stadium being constructed on the outskirts of the city, the ground was taken out of commission at the end of the 2004–05 season, and handed over for the sole use of the Bangladesh national football team. Other than being used for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, the stadium has been mainly used for football purposes since the turn of the decade.

The stadium has hosted the SAFF Championship three times to date. First during the 2003 edition which saw the Bangladesh national football team win the trophy for the first time in history. Since then the 2009 and most recently the 2018 edition of the tournament have all taken place at the stadium. Ever since the inception of the Bangladesh Premier League, in 2007, the stadium has been used has been used to host majority of the league seasons.

Bangabandhu National Stadium during the 2009 SAFF Championship

On 6 September 2011, Bangabandhu National Stadium hosted an international friendly football match between the full-strength Argentina and Nigeria teams, featuring Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, Javier Mascherano and Mikel John Obi among the other star players of both nations. Argentina won 3–1 with goals from then-Real Madrid teammates Gonzalo Higuaín and Ángel Di María, and an own goal from Nigeria's Elderson Echiéjilé with Chinedu Obasi scoring Nigeria's lone goal. Bangladeshi referee Tayeb Shamsuzzaman officiated the game, which drew 25,000 spectators despite ticket prices starting at US$100.[5][6]

On 13 November 2020, the stadium hosted the first of two matches between Bangladesh national football team and Nepal during the Mujib Borsho Fifa International Football Series, arranged by the BFF. Bangladesh won the first game of the series 2–0, while the second game which was held four days later, finished goalless which lead the hosts to clinch the series on aggregate. The friendlies helped football return to Bangabandhu National Stadium and the country after a long absence due to the rise of COVID-19 cases worldwide.[7][8]

After the 2021 Bangladesh Premier League season concluded in September, the stadium went under a year-long renovation process, which has been scheduled to end in late 2022, as BFF have planned to organize future football related events on the ground, and transform it into a modernized football stadium, as it was renovated for cricket in 2011.[9]