FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN kick off their campaign today in the AGCFF U17 Gulf Cup 2025.
The eight-nation regional tournament, organised by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF), is being held in Doha, Qatar, and it continues until October 2.
The kingdom’s youth team are set to compete in Group B of the tournament’s preliminary round alongside Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. Group A features the UAE, Oman, Yemen, and hosts Qatar.
The Bahrain Football Association has announced the final 23-player roster that will be taking to the pitch in the event. They are coached by Croatian tactician Ugo Klingor, and they are to be spearheaded by prolific striker Hussain Zuhair, who has recently caught the eye of Bahrain’s senior men’s head coach Dragan Talajic and has been invited to train with the first team.
The rest of the squad includes Anas Mohammed, Abdulrahman Majed, Haitham Shafi, Hussain Zainuddin, Bader Abdulaziz, Idris Al Mansoor, Khaled Al Khaja, Eyad Mustafa, Jassim Ben Jamea, Karrar Huwaida, Komail Al Satrawi, Mohammed Al Hassouni, Hussain Amir, Mohammed Salah, Mohammed Al Jazzaf, Ali Al Oraibi, Ahmed Hani, Jaafar Sadeq, Sayed Hassan Al Mosawi, and goalkeepers Abdulla Khalil, Hussain Al Majed, and Rashed Al Khalaqi.
The Bahrainis kick off their campaign today against Saudi at 8pm. They then take on Iraq on Tuesday next week, also at 8pm, before completing their preliminary round schedule against Kuwait on Friday at 6pm. All matches are Bahrain time, and they are all to be played at Doha’s Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium.
Following this stage, the top two teams from each group move on to the semi-finals.
Bahrain’s delegation that has travelled to Doha is headed by national team manager Ammar Dashti, assistant coach Khaled Hassan, and other members of the technical, administrative, and support staff.
Apart from the AGCFF U17 Gulf Cup 2025, the Bahrainis will also be taking part in the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers, which are set to be held from November 22 to 30.
They are one of 38 teams looking to vie for just seven available places in the continental competition, which will be held next year from May 7 to 24 in Saudi Arabia.
The field has been divided into seven groups – each to be held at a centralised location – with Bahrain drawn in Group A alongside hosts China, Bangladesh, Brunei, Timor-Leste, and Sri Lanka.
All the group winners will progress to the tournament finals, where they will join the nine Asian Football Confederation (AFC) representatives from the Fifa U-17 World Cup 2025 who have already qualified, including Qatar, Uzbekistan, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Tajikistan, the UAE, Indonesia, and Saudi.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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