FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN head coach Dragan Talajic has named a 26-player squad for next month’s joint-qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027.
The senior men’s national football team list, which was announced yesterday by the Bahrain Football Association (BFA), is headlined by a number of the kingdom’s biggest names in the game, including Ali Madan, Abdulla Yusuf, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Mahdi Humaidan and Jassim Al Shaikh.
The roster also features a strong veteran presence, with the likes of the kingdom’s most-capped international player Sayed Mohammed Jaafar in the fold, along with Ismaeel Abdullatif, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Waleed Al Hayyam and Abdulwahab Al Malood. A number of Bahrain’s most promising youngsters have also been called up, namely Ebrahim Al Khattal, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Al Sherooqi and Abdulla Al Khalasi.
Talajic has also named Ebrahim Luthfallah, Ammar Mohammed, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Hamad Al Shamsan, Mohammed Adel, Mohammed Al Banna, Hazza Ali, Ali Haram, Moses Atede, Mahdi Abduljabbar and Amine Benaddi to complete the squad.
Benaddi will be returning to international duty for the first time since suffering an ankle injury at the AFC Asian Cup in January this year. The talented defender has already taken to the pitch for his club Muharraq since completing his recovery, and will now once again be putting on the national team kit.
The Bahrainis are scheduled to kick off their latest local gathering under Talajic on Friday. They will begin gearing up for their final two games in the joint-qualifiers’ second round. The nationals will first take on Yemen at home on June 6, and then play the UAE in Dubai on June 11.
Bahrain head into these games currently second in Group H with nine points, behind only the undefeated Emiratis, who have a maximum 12 points. Yemen are third on three points while Nepal are last with zero.
Bahrain won their first two matches under Talajic’s tutelage in March, both against Nepal at home. They first enjoyed a 5-0 drubbing of the visitors before securing a 3-0 win. Earlier, playing under departed head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, the Bahrainis defeated Yemen 2-0 in their opening assignment before losing to the UAE 0-2, both in November last year.
The top two nations in each of the second round’s nine qualification groups advance to round three of Fifa World Cup 2026 qualifying, and also secure their places in the AFC Asian Cup 2027.
Round three of the Fifa World Cup qualifiers will feature 18 teams. They will be divided into three groups of six. This stage will be played from September this year to June 2025, with the top two nations from each division booking their tickets to the Fifa World Cup 2026. The third and fourth-ranked squads will move on to play in a fourth round of continental qualification.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))