ABG University Cup Starts Today: Five Universities Battle in Cricket and Football, Sonargaon Face AIUB in Opener
The 'ABG University Cup 2026' is starting with cricket and football competitions involving five universities in each event. The university-level tournament has created excitement among student players.
The competition, organised and sponsored by Anvir Bashundhara Group (ABG), begins on Sunday 25 October. The organisers have already published the full schedule for both events.
Five university teams will take part in each of the cricket and football events, making 10 teams in total. Students will therefore represent their universities in the country's two most popular sports at the same tournament.
The participating teams have been divided into two groups. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, and the winners there will move into the final.
In the opening cricket match on Sunday 25 October, Sonargaon University will face American International University Bangladesh (AIUB). The match will formally raise the curtain on this year's tournament.
The football competition, meanwhile, starts on 26 October. In the first match at 5pm, Daffodil International University will face North South University.
Regular competitions of this kind at university level keep students involved in sport and also help find new talent. Those involved say team contests outside the classroom also build friendship among students.
Bangladesh's universities have a long tradition of inter-university cricket competitions. In football too, campus-based teams regularly produce fierce rivalries.
Every match will matter from the group stage this time, because a team must finish in the top two of its group to reach the semi-finals. A single defeat could complicate any team's calculations.
Under the schedule published by the organisers, the group matches will be held in sequence. Both the cricket and football events will progress within the same overall timeframe.
The contest that begins with Sunday's Sonargaon versus AIUB cricket match will now be watched closely by university sports fans to see which team can turn it into a title.
On Monday afternoon, the football tournament will also get fully under way with the Daffodil versus North South match. The organisers are hoping for a lively start from a clash between two strong sides.
