Bangladesh U20

The junior side that carries the Bangladesh name has spent most of its history losing finals to the same two countries. That changed in 2024, when Maruful Haque's group beat Nepal 4–1 in the final of the SAFF U-20 Championship, with Mirajul Islam finishing as top scorer and tournament MVP and Piash Ahmed Nova getting on the scoresheet in the decider. Mohammad Asif was named the competition's best goalkeeper.

Before that, the pattern was familiar. Bangladesh reached the final in 2017 and lost to Nepal, reached it again in 2019 and lost to India, then went down to India once more in 2022, this time 5–2 after extra time. India is treated as the fixture that matters most in the region; Nepal is the other side that keeps turning up on the far end of the pitch in finals. A place at the AFC U-20 Asian Cup finals has stayed out of reach throughout.

Mirajul Islam came through the BFF Elite Academy, set up in 2021, and Golam Rabbani Choton, who has coached at youth level for years, now runs that academy. Mark Cox took over as head coach in early 2026, succeeding Maruful Haque after the title win.

The side plays in green and red, the colours of the flag, and shares its nickname, the Tigers of Bengal, with the senior national team, along with the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, rebuilt between 2021 and 2023 to hold 22,400. There is no separate crest for the age group; it wears the badge of the Bangladesh Football Federation, founded in 1972, with the under-20 side dated to 1975, when it played its first international against the Philippines and entered the AFC Youth Championship after Bangladesh's admission to the Asian Football Confederation two years earlier.