FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S under-23 Olympic football team enter today an overseas training camp in Amman, Jordan, as part of their final lead-up to the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers.
The qualification competition is set to kick off on September 3, with the Bahrainis slotted in Group H alongside India, Brunei Darussalam, and hosts Qatar. The matches will be taking place in Doha at Suheim bin Hamad Stadium and Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) announced yesterday a 21-player squad for their camp at the Jordanian capital, which is scheduled to continue until Friday next week. It is to be supervised by Olympic team head coach Ali Abdulmajeed.
The roster includes skipper Mubarak Mohammed, Issa Abdulla, Salman Younes, Mohammed Al Shehani, Abdulla Al Qassab, Hashem Khelaifat, Bader Al Asam, Abdulla Al Obaidly, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaie, Mahmoud Al Bannai, Khaled Khalaf, Rashed Mujiran, Abdulrahman Al Khayyat, Salem Al Dosari, Ali Sahwan, Saad Al Attar, Saud Mohsen, Hassan Sameer, and goalkeepers Ashraf Mubarak, Mohammed Khalifa, and Abdulla Freah.
The kingdom’s under-23s have already been gearing up for the qualifiers the past several weeks, which included their participation in a four-nation international tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and another overseas camp in Basra, Iraq.
The Bahrainis also played two friendly matches against their counterparts from Bangladesh last week at home – winning both games.
The under-23 nationals are one of 44 Olympic teams entered in the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers. The field has been divided into 11 groups, each to be held in a centralised location. Bahrain kick off their Group H campaign against India on September 3, before playing Brunei Darussalam on September 6. They then wrap up their qualification bid against the hometown Qataris on September 9.
At the end of a single round-robin, each group winner and the four best best-ranked runners-up will book their tickets to next year’s competition proper and join hosts Saudi Arabia, who are staging the event for the first time.
Elsewhere in the qualifiers, Group A features Turkmenistan, Chinese Taipei, Bhutan, and hosts Jordan; Group B includes Japan, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and hosts Myanmar; Group C is composed of Yemen, Singapore, Bangladesh, and hosts Vietnam; Group D comprises Australia, Timor-Leste, Northern Mariana Islands, and hosts China; Group E features Uzbekistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and hosts Kyrgyzstan; Group F includes Malaysia, Lebanon, Mongolia, and hosts Thailand; Group G is composed of Iraq, Oman, Pakistan, and hosts Cambodia; Group I comprises Iran, Hong Kong, Guam, and hosts the UAE; Group J features South Korea, Laos, Macau, and hosts Indonesia; and Group K includes Syria, the Philippines, Nepal, and Tajikistan.
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.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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