FOOTBALL – Bahrain's under-23 Olympic football team take on their counterparts from Brunei Darussalam tonight in their second match of the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers.
The Bahrainis will be looking to bounce back from a disheartening 0-2 defeat to India in their opening Group H match of qualifying earlier this week in Doha, Qatar.
This evening’s game is scheduled for a 6.15pm kick-off, Bahrain time. It will be played at Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium in the Qatari capital.
Hosts Qatar and India lock horns in today’s other divisional clash, scheduled for an 8pm start, Bahrain time, at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium. The Qataris were massive 13-0 winners against Brueni Darussalam in their first assignment of qualification.
The Bahrainis are aiming to finish as Group H winners or be one of the four best runners-up from the 11 qualifying pools in order to secure their berth in next year’s AFC U23 Asian Cup, set to be hosted by Saudi Arabia.
The nationals hope to qualify for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competition for only the second time in its history, adding to their debut in the 2020 event held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Olympic team head coach Ali Abdulmajeed has 21 players on his roster for the qualifiers. They held training yesterday in preparation for today’s clash.
Bahrain’s list in Doha 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 Fareh.
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.
Group A features hosts Jordan, Turkmenistan, Chinese Taipei, and Bhutan; Group B is composed of hosts Myanmar, Japan, Kuwait, and Afghanistan; Group C consists of hosts Vietnam, Yemen, Singapore, and Bangladesh; Group D comprises hosts China, Australia, Timor-Leste, and Northern Mariana Islands; Group E features hosts Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Palestine, and Sri Lanka; Group F consists of hosts Thailand, Malaysia, Lebanon, and Mongolia; Group G is composed of hosts Cambodia, Iraq, Oman, and Pakistan; Group I comprises hosts UAE, Iran, Hong Kong, and Guam; Group J features hosts Indonesia, South Korea, Laos, and Macau; and Group K is composed of hosts Tajikistan, Syria, the Philippines, and Nepal.
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.
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