Seeing the FIFA World Cup trophy is a lifelong ambition for most footballers, and Bangladesh national team captain Jamal Bhuiyan finally lived that dream on Tuesday as the iconic prize arrived in Dhaka. The trophy’s visit is part of its global tour ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The trophy landed at the airport accompanied by Brazil World Cup winner Gilberto Silva, making the occasion even more memorable for Jamal, who described the moment as truly special.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒚,” 𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆.”
“I Thought It Was Smaller” — Jamal’s Honest Reaction
Despite being a seasoned international footballer, Jamal could not hide his curiosity when he finally stood next to football’s most coveted prize. He admitted that the trophy looked different from what he had imagined.
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒈,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 — 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”
Jamal emphasized that the trophy’s visit to Bangladesh should serve as inspiration for aspiring footballers across the country.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. “𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇.”
Brazil Connection and 2026 World Cup Dreams
Jamal also shared his emotional connection with Brazil, revealing that he has supported the five-time world champions since childhood. Meeting Gilberto Silva, a member of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning squad, made the moment even more meaningful.
“𝑴𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑹𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒐, 𝒔𝒐 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈,” 𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 2002 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 12 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.”
Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, Jamal admitted his loyalty is divided.
“𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.”
For Jamal Bhuiyan, the brief encounter with football’s greatest prize was more than a photo opportunity — it was a reminder of the dreams that drive the beautiful game.
