FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S senior men’s football national team dropped one spot yesterday to 91st on the latest edition of the Fifa Men’s World Ranking.
The kingdom’s squad went to 1,258.53 points on the classification, published by the sport’s international governing body and covering the ranking window period of March 22 to April 1.
The Bahrainis’ standing tied their position from November of last year. The last time the nationals were 91st or lower was in 2021, when they were 91st in December of that year and 94th in August.
Bahrain remained 13th amongst nations in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), topped by Japan, who are 18th in the world with 1,660.43 points. Iran are second and 21st in the world with 1,615.30 points, followed by South Korea who are 25th in the world on 1,588.66 points.
Australia (27th, 1,580.67pts), Uzbekistan (50th, 1,465.34pts), Qatar (55th, 1,454.96pts), Iraq (57th, 1,447.14pts), and Saudi Arabia (61st, 1,421.43pts) complete the top eight continental sides. France climbed to the number one ranking in the world with 1,877.32 points, followed by Spain in second on 1,876.40 points and Argentina third on 1,874.81 points.
Fourth through eighth, respectively, are England (1,825.97pts), Portugal (1,763.83pts), Brazil (1,761.16pts), the Netherlands (1,757.87pts), and Morocco (1,755.87pts).
Bahrain’s senior men’s national team recently completed a local training gathering, held under the supervision of head coach Dragan Talajic, who called up 30 players.
Their practice period included two scrimmages of full match durations, with the kingdom’s squad being divided into two teams for each informal game.
The nationals are expected to come together the next time after the conclusion of all 2025-26 national competitions, including the His Majesty the King’s Cup and the Nasser Bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League. They will prepare for the Fifa international break in June.
The Bahrainis are currently looking ahead to competing in the 27th Gulf Cup – which they will be entering as defending champions – scheduled for later this year, and the AFC Asian Cup 2027, set for January.
The nationals are one of 23 teams who already booked their places in the AFC event. The others are defending champions Qatar; former winners Australia, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, and Kuwait; and Uzbekistan, the UAE, Oman, Palestine, Jordan, China, Indonesia, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Vietnam, and hosts Saudi, who are also ex-titlists.
There is one last spot to be decided – it is between Lebanon and Yemen, who were scheduled to face off on Tuesday but, due to regional events, the game was postponed to June 4. The draw ceremony for the AFC Asian Cup’s preliminary round was also put off after being originally set for April 11 in Riyadh. The new date has yet to be announced by the AFC.
Bahrain are in pot three for the draw, along with Thailand, China, Palestine, Vietnam, and Tajikistan.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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