FOOTBALL – Bahrain's under-23 Olympic football team take on their counterparts from Qatar tonight in a must-win match in the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers.
The Bahrainis are currently in third place in Group H with only this one game remaining.
It is scheduled for an 8pm kick-off, Bahrain time, at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha.
The nationals need to take the full three points to have any chance of making it through to the tournament finals, set to take place next year in Saudi Arabia.
India and Brunei Darussalam face off in today’s other divisional fixture.
They are set to play at Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in the Qatari capital at 6.15pm, also Bahrain.
The Qataris are currently in first place on the table with six points following their two wins in as many fixtures so far.
India and Bahrain follow with three points apiece, with the Indians holding the tie-break – should it be needed – on head-to-head rules following their 2-0 win against the Bahrainis.
Brunei Darussalam are in last place on zero points with two heavy losses.
Only the winners from the 11 qualifying pools, along with the four best runners-up, will punch their tickets to the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026.
Bahrain are coming off a resounding 10-0 rout of Brunei Darussalam in their previous assignment, and will be hoping to carry on their momentum to tonight’s clash.
The nationals hope to punch their tickets to 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.
Head coach Ali Abdulmajeed has 21 players on his roster for the qualifiers.
The list 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.
They held a training session last night in preparation for their crucial game.
The under-23 nationals are one of 44 Olympic teams entered in qualification, in which each of the 11 groups is being held at a centralised location.
Next year’s AFC U23 Asian Cup will be its seventh edition.
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