Early history National Stadium, Dhaka, originally known as Dhaka Stadium, was built for
cricket in 1954 on a vast empty land located to the northwest of the current
Bangabhaban (the Presidential Palace). The stadium is the only venue worldwide to have hosted the inaugural home fixtures for two
Test nations:
Pakistan and Bangladesh. India were the visitors on both occasions: in 1954–55, when Dacca was the capital of
East Pakistan, and in 1976–77, when the first unofficial Test match was held between
Bangladesh against the touring
MCC from England. And the following year the Sri Lankan national team visited Bangladesh to play a few one-day, two-day and three-day unofficial matches against BCCB XI and Bangladesh national team. After that teams like Deccan Blues from India and MCC toured Bangladesh several times to play against BCCB XI and Bangladesh national team respectively. Alongside cricket, the stadium was also known to host the historic
Dhaka First Division League, which was the country's premier football league even before independence of Bangladesh. In the 80s when football's popularity was skyrocketing, the
Dhaka Derby attracted thousands of fans into the stadium from all over the country. The stadium regularly hosted the now defunct
Aga Khan Gold Cup, which by many is considered to be first organised international competition that involved club teams around Asia. The
1978 AFC Youth Championship marked the first major international tournament hosted by both the stadium and the country. The stadium underwent renovations for the occasion, and all 40 matches took place there, with
Korea Republic and
Iraq being crowned joint champions. The stadium has a history of hosting number of historic sports event starting from cricket, football, hockey to boxing. In February 1978, boxer
Muhammad Ali fought an exhibition boxing match at the stadium, the then Dacca Stadium, with a 12-year-old Bengali boy.
Home of Bangladesh football With a purpose-built cricket stadium being constructed on the outskirts of the city, the ground was taken out of commission at the end of the 2004–05 season, and handed over for the sole use of the
Bangladesh national football team. The stadium has hosted the
SAFF Championship three times to date. First during the
2003 edition when Bangladesh lifted the trophy for the first time in history, in front of 46,000 local supporters. Since then the
2009 and most recently the
2018 editions of the tournament have all taken place at the stadium. Ever since the inception of the
Bangladesh Premier League, in 2007, the stadium has been used has been used to host majority of the league seasons. On 6 September 2011, the stadium hosted an international friendly football match between the full-strength
Argentina and
Nigeria teams, featuring
Lionel Messi,
Sergio Agüero,
Javier Mascherano and
Mikel John Obi among the other star players of both nations. Argentina won 3–1 with goals from then-
Real Madrid teammates
Gonzalo Higuaín and
Ángel Di María, and an own goal from Nigeria's
Elderson Echiéjilé with
Chinedu Obasi scoring Nigeria's lone goal. Bangladeshi referee
Tayeb Shamsuzzaman officiated the game, which drew 25,000 spectators despite ticket prices starting at US$100. On 13 November 2020, the stadium hosted the first of two matches between Bangladesh and
Nepal during the Mujib Borsho Fifa International Football Series, arranged by the Bangladesh Football Federation. Bangladesh won the first game of the series 2–0, while the second game which was held four days later, finished goalless which lead the hosts to clinch the series on aggregate. The friendlies helped football return to the stadium and the country after a long absence due to the rise of
COVID-19 cases worldwide. After the fall of the
Sheikh Hasina-led
Awami League government through an uprising, Bangabandhu National Stadium was renamed to National Stadium, Dhaka. ==Refurbishment==