FOOTBALL – A formidable 27-player senior men’s football national team was announced yesterday for Bahrain’s first two matches in the third round of Asian qualification for the Fifa World Cup 2026.
Head coach Dragan Talajic has selected a squad that features the kingdom’s top stars, influential veterans, and up-and-coming youngsters to take on two of the continent’s major powers.
The Bahrainis are set to face world number 24 Australia away in their first Group C assignment on September 5. They then host world number 18 Japan, Asia’s top-ranked side, less than a week later on September 10.
The squad features top internationals including Ali Madan, Komail Al Aswad, Mahdi Humaidan, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Jassim Al Shaikh, Hazza Ali, Amine Benaddi, Ahmed Nabeel, Hamad Shamsan, and Ebrahim Luthfallah.
The seasoned stars are Waleed Al Hayyam, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Ali Haram, Abdulwahab Al Malood, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Ismaeel Abdullatif, and Sayed Mohammed Jaafar.
The team’s rising talents are Ebrahim Al Khattal, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Moses Atede, Abbas Al Asfour, Sayed Ahmed Al Wadaei, Vincent Emmanuel, Abdulla Al Khalasi, and Ammar Mohammed.
Two of the bigger names not on the list are forward Abdulla Yusuf, who is with his club Bohemians 1905 in the Czech Republic, and defender Mohammed Adel of Bahrain champions Al Khaldiya.
The Bahrainis are scheduled to fly Down Under on Tuesday next week. They are set to play their game at Robina Stadium in the Gold Coast in eastern Australia. The match venue has a capacity of close to 28,000. Kick-off is scheduled for 1.10pm, Bahrain time.
The nationals will then take on the visiting Japanese at the National Stadium in Riffa. The game is slated for a 7pm start.
Japan begin their Group C campaign against China at home on September 5. The other divisional fixture on that day sees Saudi Arabia host Indonesia in Jeddah.
On September 10, the Indonesians welcome Australia for a qualifying match and China play the Saudis at home.
Games in continental qualification’s third round continue until June of next year. There are three groups in all in this stage. Group A features Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, the UAE, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea; while Group B is composed of South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait. The top two finishers from each group will punch their tickets to the Fifa World Cup 2026 finals.
The third and fourth-placed squads will compete in a fourth round, where they will be divided into another two groups. There, the winners of each qualify for football’s global showpiece. The two second-placers will then square off in a home-and-away phase. with the victors marching forward to compete in an inter-continental play-off for one final available World Cup berth.
The Bahrainis held a training camp in Maribor, Slovenia, recently to prepare for the start of qualifying action.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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