FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN have been drawn in a tough Group H for the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers.
The kingdom’s under-23 Olympic football team are one of 44 sides who will be competing in the qualifying tournament this September.
They have been divided into 11 groups, each of which will hold their matches at a central location. The 11 group winners and four best best-ranked runners-up will join Saudi Arabia, who are hosting the AFC U23 Asian Cup next year for the first time.
Bahrain are in Group H alongside Qatar, India, and Brunei Darussalam. Their games will be played in Doha.
Other host nations are Jordan, Myanmar, Vietnam, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Thailand, Cambodia, the UAE, Indonesia, and Tajikistan.
Bahrain’s Olympic team are coached by former Al Shabab Club tactician Ali Majeed. He has taken over for Moroccan Hicham Dimai, who was last in charge for the kingdom’s under-23s in the 2025 West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U23 Championship, held in March in Muscat, Oman. The under-23 nationals have already begun their local training programme under the supervision of Majeed.
Next year’s AFC U23 Asian Cup will be its seventh edition. Bahrain have qualified for the tournament just once in the past – in the 2020 event held in Bangkok, Thailand, where they finished last in Group A during the opening stage.
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