Mr. Ismail will most likely never see a pro game in person, but a big excursion for him is playing with the Cox’s Bazar team in the official Bangladesh league. Rohingya teams are not allowed to play in the official league, but their best players, including Mr. Ismail, are sometimes recruited.

“We don’t tell their opponents that I’m Rohingya because they might not agree that I’m eligible to play,” he said.

When he kicked the goal later that day, the ball shot through the rusting posts and bounced off the roofs below. Ismail looped back to his team. They clapped his back and laughed.

Already several youngsters were in pursuit of the ball, stumbling in the twilight, eager to be the one to return it. The official refugees beat the team from the unofficial camp, 2-0.

After the match, he asked me to put my Facebook details into his phone so he could stay in touch. The screen still had the last search term he had entered: “Football hero Messi.”