SINGAPORE — On Tuesday, as Hamza Choudhury took to the field for Bangladesh in their final 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore, exactly a year and a week had passed since he first wore those national team colours.
From the time it was made known that he was eligible to represent the South Asian nation through mother, Bangladeshi football was immediately enchanted by the prospect of having a Premier League star — with Choudhury having debuted for Leicester City two seasons after their remarkable title triumph — representing the national team.
Of course, given the all-action midfielder was an England U21 international, his initial trajectory was understandably towards representing his birth nation at the highest level.
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Eventually, switching his national team allegiance became an increasingly-realistic prospect. The latter half of 2024 saw Choudhury obtain his Bangladeshi passport and officially commit to the country.
Last March, he finally made his international bow — against Bangladesh’s neighbours and fierce rivals India, no less.
In the 12 months that have followed, Choudhury has featured in nine of the ten matches Bangladesh have played — only missing a friendly against Nepal through injury. Every time he has played, he has seen out the full 90 minutes and has already racked up four goals in the process.
Despite the addition of a player of Choudhury’s ilk — with the 28-year-old continuing to feature prominently for Leicester, now in the Championship following relegation last season — Bangladesh ultimately came up short in their quest to qualify for the Asian Cup.
That aside, Choudhury could not have asked for more from his first year in Bangladesh colours.
“It’s amazing,” he told ESPN after the 1-0 loss to Singapore. “Amazing.
“Honestly, best thing I’ve done. I couldn’t have wished for it to have gone any differently. Obviously, [apart from] the qualification.
“But with these hard lessons, everyone becomes stronger.
“So everyone’s disappointed but I’m sure, upon reflection when we watch our clips back, we’ll see how much of a better team we’ve become.”
Indeed, it was hardly a failed campaign — even if they did finish nine points behind Singapore, who were the only team to advance from the Group C. Far from it.
For the first time since the qualifiers for the 2000 Asian Cup, Bangladesh did not finish bottom of a group — regardless of whatever stage it was.
Their sole victory in the recently-concluded campaign was only their fifth in that time — from a total of 53 games. In historic fashion, that 1-0 win over India was their first over the old enemy in 22 years.
For context, Bangladesh remain Asia’s tenth lowest-ranked nation at 181st in the world. India are 136th. Singapore and Hong Kong, the other team in their group, are noticeably higher at 147th and 155th respectively.
Yet, they did not lose any game by more than a single goal. They could even have finished with a better record having equalised in the ninth minute of injury-time — only to concede in the 101st minute to suffer a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Hong Kong back in October.
“Yeah, exactly,” agreed Choudhury, when asked if Tuesday’s narrow defeat once again highlighted that the gap between Bangladesh and these higher-ranked nations is not as wide as some might imagine.
“It’s a big step forward. I think, in the year that I’ve been here, we’ve come on leaps and bounds as a team.
“For us to come to Singapore, who have already qualified, and play some of the football we played out there is something that we should be proud of — and also puts us in good stead hopefully for the next campaign.
“Singapore are a very good team so, for us to come and play like that, is a very good thing.”
Hamza Choudhury, who has already scored four goals in nine international appearances, is upbeat about Bangladesh’s future prospects — and believes they should be aiming to win the SAFF Championship later this year. Zabed Hasnain Chowdhury/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Given the fact that Tuesday’s game was Singapore’s first since they sealed a first Asian Cup appearance since 1984 last November, there was indeed a party atmosphere at the National Stadium in Kallang — with 30,105 in attendance to witness what was essentially a dead rubber, as well as the accompanying live performances, laser displays and fireworks as the hosts went all out in celebrating their historic accomplishment.
It is however worth noting that over 6,000 of those were in Bangladesh colours — providing the sight of an entirely-filled away stand that is not always common, undoubtedly aided by the fact that there is a large Bangladeshi population working in Singapore.
There was no disguising who they had turned out to see the most, with Choudhury’s first touch — and every subsequent one — drawing the loudest cheers throughout the 90 minutes.
“It’s amazing, honestly. I think they’re the best fans in the world,” said Choudhury.
“For them to travel, for them to come and spend their hard-earned money to come and watch us here, even though we haven’t qualified and it’s almost like a celebration for Singapore.
“For them to come out in that many numbers to come and support us is second to none so we obviously thank them so much and hopefully they can continue to support us.”
Year one as a Bangladesh international is now done and dusted for Choudhury. Year two, and those that follow, only excites him.
Regional glory awaits in the SAFF Championship, contested by the members of the South Asia Football Federation.
India, Maldives and Nepal all remain higher-ranked than Bangladesh — but recent improvement and form gives Choudhury belief that they can be title contenders.
“I think we’ll probably have some friendlies in the summer,” he replied, when asked what was on the horizon for him and his national team.
“And then we’ll have SAFF, I think [in] September, which we expect to win.
“I think within the country, and within ourselves, we’ve put that expectation now on us after some of the displays.
“And then, [we] look forward to the 2027 campaign and, inshallah, we’ll be able to qualify [for the next Asian Cup].”