Sports

Several traditional indigenous sports, including Kabaddi, Boli Khela, Lathi Khela, and Nouka Baich, are still reasonably well-liked in rural Bangladesh. Although Kabaddi is the national sport, cricket and football are the two most played sports in the nation. In 1999, the national cricket team competed in their first Cricket World Cup, and the status as a Test cricket team was awarded the following year. Bangladesh reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the semifinals of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, and the Asia Cup final three times between 2012 and 2018 (as well as the quarterfinals of the 2014 and 2015 tournaments). The men's Under-19 Cricket World Cup was held in South Africa in February 2020, and it was won by the Bangladeshi youth national cricket team. Bangladesh's first World Cup triumph was this one.

In Bangladesh, women's sports made great advancements during the 2010s decade. The 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup was won by the Bangladesh women's national cricket team, which defeated India in the championship match.

Along with cricket, football is a popular sport in Bangladesh, and it is overseen by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). Football competitions are often held in and around Dhaka, and every FIFA World Cup brings the nation to its feet. During the 1971 Liberation War, the Shadhin Bangla Football Team became the first national football team representing Bangladesh. Zakaria Pintoo, the captain of the Shadhin Bangla football team, was the first person to raise the Bangladesh flag outside of Bangladeshi territory. The national squad was only the second South Asian team to compete in the 1980 AFC Asian Cup. The Bangladesh women's national football squad, particularly the Under-15 and Under-18 sides, has also experienced considerable success at the regional level.