The Bangladesh national football team () is the national recognised football team of Bangladesh and is controlled by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation, and became a member of FIFA in 1974, even though the Bangladesh Football Federation was first founded in 1972. Bangladesh was elected as a member of the AFC Executive Committee in 1982–1986 and 1998–2002. The current Executive Committee was elected democratically, under an AFC approved constitution and direct supervision of FIFA & AFC, in October 2020. Bangladesh's national team debuted in 1973 and has yet to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals. They were dismissed in the first round of their only Asian Cup appearance to date in 1980; by qualifying for it, Bangladesh is one of the only two South Asian nations to achieve the feat. The nation's best results came at South Asian level where it won the 2003 SAFF Championship and were gold medalists at the 1999 South Asian Games. Bangladesh was one of Asia's emerging team's in the 1980s and early 1990s. However, since the turn of the century, top-level football in Bangladesh is played somewhere in the shadow of the country's national cricket team. This is mostly due to inadequate budget allocation and lack of technical skills adaptation. To date, football remains a popular sport in Bangladesh but cricket remains the most popular sport in the nation. History Origins (1933–1972) During the early 1930s, there were many tournaments being held in East Bengal and it was seen that the Bengalis there were getting a little better at football. So in 1933, Dhaka Sporting Association, also known as the DSA, was formed in a small tin house at Paltan Maidan in Dhaka. In those days, Islington Corinthians from England toured all around the world, and introduced their football to every country they visited. On 22 November 1937, the team visited Dhaka, where they took on the DSA XI. The Bengalis of Dhaka handed Corinthians their first ever loss, when the DSA XI defeated Corinthians 1–0 during their encounter. Most of the players were students of Dhaka University. Thousands of people were overjoyed to see the English lose on the field that day. While leaving, the opposition admitted to their defeat, saying, "I heard a lot about the Bengal tiger! This time I saw it!" The first instance of a Bangladesh national football team