# Dhaka derby

The Dhaka Derby is a football rivalry between the Dhaka teams of Abahani and Mohammedan; although the rivalry was bigger in the past, it is still considered to be the biggest game in Bangladesh's domestic football scene.
Mohammedan was founded in 1936, and Abahani in 1972. Bangladesh football's popularity grew based on the two Dhaka clubs – Mohammedan and Abahani. These are the two clubs that have divided the country's fans into two camps over the course of a fierce rivalry of 47-odd years. These two clubs meet several times a year in competitions like the Federation Cup, Bangladesh Premier League, Independence Cup.

## History
### 1970s–1990s

The two sides first met in 1973 in Dhaka First Division League. During that match, Abahani player Amalesh Sen scored the first goal in the history of Dhaka derby.Salahuddin scored the second goal for Abahani and the Abahani won that match by 2–0 and caused an upset over the mighty Black and Whites.
In 1978, Bangladesh participated in Asian Games for the first time. Monwar Hossain Nannu, being the senior most player in the squad, was originally nominated as the captain for the Bangkok event. But, then the Federation changed their decision and goalkeeper Shahidur Rahman Shantoo from MSC was appointed the new captain. 7 Abahani players including Nannu withdrew from the team in protest. The much depleted Bangladesh team struggled in the tournament losing 1–0 to Malaysia and 3–0 to India. Following this incident, the federation generally tried to pick national team captain outside the big two Dhaka teams for the next few years.
The 1980s was the golden era of club football in Dhaka. Any match involving Mohammedan or Abahani would draw huge crowd at the Dhaka stadium. The rivalry between the two rivals was at its peak in this era. Abahani won a hat-trick of titles in 1983, 1984 & 1985 and Mohammedan made a record of winning an unbeaten hat-trick of titles in 1986, 1987 & 1988-89. The rivalry reached its peak as fans always wanted their favorite team to win and they also contested in foreign tournaments and were the best sides.

### 2000s–2010

Since the start of the Bangladesh Premier League in 2007, the rivalry has lost majority of its past fame.

## Head-to-head
### Statistics

Following statistics are from matches since 2007 B.League.
| Competition | Abahani wins | Draws | Mohammedan wins | Abahani goals | Mohammedan goals |
| League | 14 | 12 | 5 | 40 | 24 |
| Federation Cup | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
| Total | 15 | 13 | 6 | 48 | 30 |

### Matches

Following is the list of matches since 2007 B.League.
| # | Season | Date | Competition | Stadium | Home Team | Result | Away Team | H2H |
| 1 | 2007 | 16 March 2007 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 0–1 | Abahani | +1 |
| 2 | 2007 | 16 June 2007 | B.League | Kamalpur Stadium | Abahani | 0–0 | Mohammedan | +1 |
| 3 | 2008–09 | 24 November 2008 | B.League | Kamalpur Stadium | Abahani | 2–2 | Mohammedan | +1 |
| 4 | 2008–09 | 24 January 2009 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 1–2 | Abahani | +2 |
| 5 | 2009–10 | 19 March 2010 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 0–0 | Abahani | +2 |
| 6 | 2009–10 | 2 June 2010 | B.League | Kamalpur Stadium | Abahani | 1–2 | Mohammedan | +1 |
| 7 | 2010–11 | 13 March 2011 | B.League | Kamalpur Stadium | Abahani | 1–0 | Mohammedan | +2 |
| 8 | 2010–11 | 24 June 2011 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 0–0 | Abahani | +2 |
| 9 | 2012 | 17 February 2012 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 1–1 | Mohammedan | +2 |
| 10 | 2012 | 22 May 2012 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 2–0 | Abahani | +1 |
| 11 | 2012–13 | 28 December 2012 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 2–0 | Mohammedan | +2 |
| 12 | 2012–13 | 7 April 2013 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 1–1 | Abahani | +2 |
| 13 | 2013–14 | 19 January 2014 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 0–1 | Abahani | +3 |
| 14 | 2013–14 | 4 May 2014 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 0–1 | Mohammedan | +2 |
| 15 | 2013–14 | 30 June 2014 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 1–1 | Abahani | +2 |
| 16 | 2014–15 | 20 May 2015 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 0–1 | Mohammedan | +1 |
| 17 | 2014–15 | 16 August 2015 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 0–0 | Abahani | +1 |
| 18 | 2016 | 21 September 2016 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 0–3 | Abahani | +2 |
| 19 | 2016 | 6 December 2016 | B.League | Gopalganj Stadium | Abahani | 2–1 | Mohammedan | +3 |
| 20 | 2017–18 | 7 August 2017 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 1–0 | Mohammedan | +4 |
| 21 | 2017–18 | 22 November 2017 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 0–2 | Abahani | +5 |
| 22 | 2018–19 | 28 February 2019 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 3–0 | Mohammedan | +6 |
| 23 | 2018–19 | 16 July 2019 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | 4–0 | Abahani | +5 |
| 24 | 2019–20 | 4 March 2020 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 4–0 | Mohammedan | +6 |
| 25 | 2019–20 | 25 June 2020 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Mohammedan | N/A | Abahani | +6 |
| 26 | 2020–21 | 4 March 2020 | Federation Cup | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 3–0 | Mohammedan | +7 |
| 27 | 2020–21 | 28 January 2021 | B.League | Comilla Stadium | Mohammedan | 2–2 | Abahani | +7 |
| 28 | 2020–21 | 27 June 2021 | B.League | Bangabandhu Stadium | Abahani | 1–1 | Mohammedan | +7 |
| 29 | 2021–22 | 23 February 2022 | B.League | Sylhet District Stadium | Abahani | 1–0 | Mohammedan | +8 |
| 30 | 2021–22 | 22 June 2022 | B.League | Comilla Stadium | Mohammedan | 2–4 | Abahani | +9 |
| 31 | 2022–23 | 27 January 2023 | B.League | Comilla Stadium | Abahani | 2–0 | Mohammedan | +10 |
| 32 | 2022–23 | 26 May 2022 | B.League | Comilla Stadium | Mohammedan | 1–1 | Abahani | +11 |
| 33 | 2022–23 | 30 May 2022 | Federation Cup | Comilla Stadium | Mohammedan | 4–4 | Abahani | +11 |
| 34 | 2023–24 | 13 February 2024 | Federation Cup | Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium | Abahani | 1–2 | Mohammedan | +10 |
| 35 | 2023–24 | 23 February 2024 | B.League | Comilla Stadium | Abahani | 2–2 | Mohammedan | +10 |
| 36 | 2023–24 | 29 May 2024 | B.League | Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium | Abahani | – | Mohammedan | +10 |
* ↑ League was suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic.
* ↑ Mohammedan won 4–2 on penalty shoot-out.

## Statistics

All players in bold are still active in the derby.

### All-time top goalscorers

| Player | Club(s) | League | Years |
| Souleymane Diabate | Dhaka Mohammedan | 11 | 2019– |
| Kervens Belfort | Dhaka Abahani | 4 | 2018–2021 |
| Emeka Christian Jbe | Dhaka Abahani | 3 | |
| Daniel Colindres | Dhaka Abahani | 3 | 2021–2023 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Souleymane Diabate | Dhaka Mohammedan | Dhaka Abahani | 4–4 (H) | 30 May 2023 |

## Records

Friendly matches are not included in the following records unless otherwise noted.
* Widest winning margin: 4 goals
** Mohammedan 4–0 Abahani (16 July 2019, 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League)
** Abahani 4–0 Mohammedan (4 March 2020, 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League)
* Highest scoring match: 8 goals
** Mohammedan 4–4 Abahani (30 May 2022, 2022–23 Federation Cup)

## Notable Matches

* Abahani 2–0 Mohammedan (1973)
This was the first ever Dhaka derby played in Dhaka First Division League. Amalesh Sen and Salahuddin scored the first and second goals for Abahani, defeating Mohammedan 2–0.
* Abahani 0–0 Mohammedan (16 June 2007)
This was the first ever derby match in the Bangladesh Premier League. The match took place in Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on 16 June 2007, which ended in a 0–0 draw.
* Mohammedan 1-0 Abahani (27 March 2009)
The final match of Bangladesh Super Cup first edition. After the BDR uprising in February 2008, security was tight for the final held in March. Yet there was no shortage of interest among the audience. For the final match, more spectators stayed outside the stadium than on the field. A 21st minute goal by Nigerian midfielder John Godwin gave Mohammedan the Citycell Super Cup title with a solitary goal victory.
* Mohammedan 4–4 Abahani (30 May 2023)
This was the final of 2022–23 Federation Cup, it ended 3–3 in the normal time, Diabate scored hat-trick for Mohammedan while Fahim, Colindres and Ogbugh scored for Abahani respectively. In additional time, Diabate scored his 4th goal in the 105th minute to give Mohammedan the lead. Mia scored in 118th minute equalizer to take the match into penalty shoot-out, where Mohammedan won 4–2 after Augusto and Colindres failed to convert their spot-kicks after Emon failed to score his penalty for Mohammedan.

## Honours

Major Honours (National)
This following table includes only those titles recognised and organised by the BFF and AFC.
| Competition | Mohammedan | Abahani |
| First Division/Premier Division League | 19 | 11 |
| Federation Cup | 11 | 12 |
| Super Cup | 2 | 1 |
| Bangladesh Premier Football League | 0 | 6 |
| Independence Cup | 3 | 2 |
| National Football League | 2 | 1 |
| Liberation Cup | 0 | 1 |
| DMFA Cup | 3 | 1 |
| BTC Club Cup | 0 | 1 |
| Ma-Moni Gold cup | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 40 | 36 |

## General information

| | Dhaka Abahani | Mohammedan SC |
| First established name | Abahani Krira Chakra | Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited Dhaka |
| Founding year | 1972 | 1936 |
| Stadiums | Bangabandhu National Stadium, Sylhet District Stadium, Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium | Bangabandhu National Stadium, Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium |
| Capacity | 36,000, 15,000, 15,000 | 36,000, 5,000 |
| Number of seasons in Bangladesh Premier League | 15 (never been relegated) | 15 (never been relegated) |
| AFC Club Ranking | 194 | 326 |
| World club ranking | 1498 | 1793 |