FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN will fight for a winning finish to their Fifa World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign, despite already bowing out of contention for a place in football’s quadrennial showcase.
This was assured by the kingdom’s senior men’s football national team head coach Dragan Talajic, who was speaking during his post-match Press conference following their 0-2 defeat to Saudi Arabia at home on Thursday night – a result that officially ended their bid to make it to next year’s finals.
The Bahrainis have one game remaining in this third round of Asian qualification – a non-bearing affair against China, who are also already out of the running – scheduled for Tuesday next week. The contest will be played at Chongqing Longxing Football Stadium in Chongqing, China. The nationals arrived yesterday ahead of the encounter.
“We lost our chance now to qualify for the next stage, but we will now try to bring up our morale to play this last game for our kingdom, to inshaallah finish this qualification with a win,” a visibly disappointed Talajic told the media.
The Croatian tactician rued Bahrain’s numerous missed opportunities in their loss to their Gulf neighbours but lauded his players for their spirited effort.
“We created four or five chances, especially in the second half when we took more of a risk.
“I am proud of my boys and we played good football against Saudi, gave the best at this moment, but we were unlucky and we missed two key players [Ali Madan and Mohammed Al Rumaihi]. But this is football. ” Bahrain’s loss to Saudi was their fifth in nine qualifying matches, where they have just one win so far and three draws. They are on six points – tied with China but with a better goal difference – heading into Tuesday’s fixture.
“I am sorry for the people and sorry for our kingdom,” he added.
“I am also sorry for this generation now – what we wanted to make, we could not do. “I can say only mabrook for Saudi Arabia; we played such a good game, created a lot of good chances. But Saudi have this quality, like I said before – they did everything they needed and they scored two goals, and really mabrook for them.
“We wish them all the best to qualify for the World Cup.”
Looking beyond the ongoing qualifiers, Talajic expressed his excitement in what the national team have built under his tenure and voiced his confidence in their continued development.
“In front of us, there is too much job,” he said.
“My team has improved too much from when I came here.
“We have the Arab Cup coming up, and we will see.”
Tuesday’s game is scheduled for a 2pm kick-off, Bahrain time. Saudi host Australia at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah at 9.15pm that same day, while Japan welcome Indonesia to Suita City Football Stadium in Suita in a 1.35pm match.
Both times are also Bahrain.
The nationals are set to take on their counterparts from Djibouti this November in a single-game qualifying contest to secure a berth in the Fifa Arab Cup 2025’s preliminary round. Should they win, they will be in Group D for the tournament proper, where they will join Algeria, Iraq, and either Lebanon or Sudan.
Group A features competition hosts Qatar, Tunisia, Syria or South Sudan, and Palestine or Libya; Group B is composed of Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Oman or Somalia, and Yemen or Comoros; and Group C includes Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and either Kuwait or Mauritania.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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