Morsalin shares spotlight with Son

Sheikh Morsalin's sensational goal against Lebanon has earned the young striker a place alongside South Korean superstar Son Heung-Min as one of the eight standout performers of the first two rounds of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asian qualifiers.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) published the list on their website on Saturday, where they placed Morsalin alongside, Heung-Min, Japan's Ayase Ueda, Qatar's Almoez Ali, UAE's Ali Mabkhout, Australia's Harry Souttar, Malaysia's Dion Cools, Iran's Mehdi Taremi and Saudi Arabia's Saleh Al Shehri.

The 17-year-old forward earned the recognition on the back of his fierce right-footed strike against Lebanon, which helped Bangladesh earn a 1-1 draw coming from behind at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka on November 21.

With his strike, the Bashundhara Kings forward earned Bangladesh a precious point after they suffered a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Australia on November 16 in their first match of the qualifiers.

The attacker came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute in the Australia match, which was his first appearance for the national team after the row over illegally bringing alcohol to the country after Kings' away tie in the AFC Cup against Maldivian club Maziya SRC.

The row cost Morsalin his place in the side for Bangladesh's prequalifer matches against the Maldives, which they won 3-2 on aggregate.

The incident also put a damper on the youngster's brilliant start in international football after he announced his arrival with two goals and an assist in the 2023 SAFF Championship.

With his performance against Lebanon, the booter from Faridpur is once again at the front and center of Bangladesh's hopes of doing well in the qualifiers, which will resume in next year's March.