Having lost their last eight games in a row, their successes in the SAFF Championships were now a distant memory and matters have not improved in the years since, their losing run stretched to nineteen games. However, following an eighteen-month absence from the international arena and entering the World Cup for the very first time, Bhutan produced two shock results in beating Sri Lanka in both legs of the AFC first qualifying round to proceed to the group qualifying round and record back to back victories for the first time in their history. The next stage of qualifying was not successful for Bhutan as they lost all of their matches including a 15–0 defeat to Qatar and a 12–0 defeat to China in addition to an overall 15–0 loss to Thai club side Buriram United in two unofficial back to back friendlies. A fourteen match losing streak was broken however when they drew 0–0 with Bangladesh in the first leg of their 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification – Play-off Round tie. The second leg saw Bhutan record their first ever victory over Bangladesh in a 3–1 win, which saw them progress to the third round of the qualifiers for the 2019 Asian Cup.