FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN signed off from the third round of Asian qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup 2026 yesterday with a disheartening 0-1 away loss to China.
The match was played at Chongqing Longxing Football Stadium in the Chinese city of Chongqing, and it was a non-bearing affair, with both teams already eliminated from further contention in continental qualification.
Wang Yudong fired in a late penalty for the hosts after Bahrain substitute Hussain Al Eker was called for a hand ball just seconds after coming on as a substitute.
Yudong’s spot kick in the third minute of second-half stoppage time was enough to separate the two sides and give the home team the full three points in qualifying’s Group C table.
In other divisional games yesterday, Japan wrapped up their impressive campaign in style with a 6-0 hammering of Indonesia at Suita City Football Stadium in Suita, Japan; while Australia edged past Saudi Arabia 2-1 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah in Saudi.
The Bahrainis thus ended continental qualification in last place in Group C with six points. They had six losses in their 10 matches to go with just one win and three draws.
China finished ahead of them with nine points following their third victory yesterday.
Japan topped the standings with 23 points after winning seven of their qualifiers and earlier becoming the first team worldwide to punch their ticket to next year’s Fifa World Cup finals.
Australia joined them as automatic qualifiers after finishing in second place with 19 points. Saudi took third on 13 points and Indonesia finished fourth with 12 points.
Both the Saudis and Indonesians keep their Fifa World Cup hopes alive and will play in a fourth round of Asian qualifying, where they will be part of a six-nation field that will be divided into two groups.
In Bahrain’s loss yesterday, head coach Dragan Talahic fielded a starting 11 that featured mostly the same players that played in their previous matches.
Ebrahim Luthfallah was in goal, while Abdulla Al Khalasi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Amine Benaddi, and Hamad Shamsan were in defence. Skipper Sayed Dhiya Saeed was joined in midfield by Mahdi Humaidan, Komail Al Aswad, and Ali Madan, while Mahdi Abduljabbar and Mohammed Jassim Marhoon formed the strike partnership.
The Bahrainis had a number of scoring chances throughout the match but were unlucky not to find the net.
Humaidan was first to threaten with a 16th minute shot from outside the box that was on target but was punched away by China goalkeeper Wang Dalei. That was their best opportunity of the first half, when Yudong also came close to opening the hosts’ account two minutes after the half-hour mark.
After the break, Abduljabbar had a 51st minute left-footed effort from centre of the box miss to the right.
Luthfallah was active at this point and made a number of key stops, including one in the 65th minute when he punched away an effort from Yudong. The Bahraini custodian did the same in the 77th minute with a low effort from his Chinese rival, maintaining the goalless deadlock.
Al Aswad then had Bahrain’s best chance of the evening. He hit a left-footed shot from outside the area in the 84th minute that flew towards goal but was saved by Dalei.
That set the stage for the game-changing hand ball in the 89th minute, moments after Al Eker replaced Madan. His right arm made contact with a cross from the right of the penalty area delivered by China’s Wang Ziming. Following a VAR review, the decision stood.
Yudong stepped forward and converted the penalty with a right-footed shot to the top-right corner.
The Bahrainis had too little time to reply from there, and had to settle for the disappointing ending to their Fifa World Cup 2026 qualifying bid.
The fourth round of Asian qualifiers are scheduled to be held in October of this year. There, the winners of each of the two groups qualify for football’s showpiece competition, while the two runners-up will square off in a home-and-away phase. The victors from that will then march forward to compete in an inter-continental play-off for one final available Fifa World Cup 2026 berth.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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