Tickets for Bangladesh’s Asian Cup qualifying match against India sold out within six minutes of going on sale at 2pm on Monday, reflecting the huge anticipation surrounding the fixture at the National Stadium on 18 November.
Golam Gaus, chairman of the Bangladesh Football Federation’s (BFF) competitions committee and a former national footballer, confirmed the rapid sellout. “All tickets for the general gallery were booked within six minutes,” he said. “Customers are now completing payments, and more than half have already done so. There are no general tickets left, only Red Box and hospitality options remain.”
The general gallery tickets, priced at 500 taka, marked a 100-taka increase from the matches against Singapore and Hong Kong earlier in the year. Despite the price rise, demand remained overwhelming as fans snapped up tickets immediately after their release.
While tickets sold out quickly, there were no major complaints of technical issues or delays in the purchasing process.
Before the crucial qualifier, Bangladesh will host Nepal in a friendly on 13 November. Tickets for that match have been available for a week but sales have been slow. Gaus, however, expects an uptick. “All tickets for the India match are gone, and excitement is growing. We expect fans will now also buy tickets for the Nepal game,” he said.
The BFF began selling tickets online for the first time in June, during the Bangladesh-Singapore match, using the Tikkify platform, which drew complaints from fans over technical glitches. In October, the federation switched to Q-Tickets, whose platform handled sales more smoothly, with tickets for that month’s home fixture selling out in 20 minutes.
Pleased with the improved experience, the BFF retained Q-Tickets for the November window, allowing fans to make digital payments for the upcoming fixtures. However, the federation has still not published the financial report for the Singapore match, more than four months after it took place.
