FOOTBALL – Bahrain’s senior men’s football national team will play an international friendly match against their counterparts from Georgia in June.
This was announced yesterday by the Bahrain Football Association (BFA).
The tune-up is scheduled for June 5 at Mikheil Maski Stadium in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Kick-off is set for 9pm, Bahrain time.
No further details of the contest were revealed by the BFA.
The nationals will be playing the friendly as part of their preparations for their future competitions, including 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 early next year.
The Bahrainis are expected to conduct an overseas summer training camp in Europe, to be held under the supervision of head coach Dragan Talajic.
The details of their foreign excursion have yet to be announced by the BFA.
Georgia will be the first senior men’s European opponent Bahrain will be facing since they hosted Serbia in November of 2022 – a match they lost 1-5.
The Georgians are currently higher than the Bahrainis on the Fifa World Ranking in 72nd, with the nationals in 91st.
The nationals recently completed a local training camp under Talajic’s supervision last month.
Their next gathering is pencilled in for June, following the conclusion of all 2025-26 national competitions under the BFA, including the His Majesty the King’s Cup and the Nasser Bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.
The 27th Gulf Cup is slated for September 23 to October 6 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the participation of eight teams, including Qatar, Iraq, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, hosts Saudi, and Bahrain, who won the previous edition held from December of 2024 to January of 2025.
It was the Bahrainis’ second Gulf Cup crown in the history of the tournament, adding to their historic maiden title in 2019.
Meanwhile, for next year’s AFC Asian Cup, scheduled from January 7 to February 5, Bahrain are one of 23 nations who have already booked their places in the event, to be hosted by three cities in Saudi.
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 Saudi, who are also ex-titlists.
There is one last spot to be decided – it is between Lebanon and Yemen, who are scheduled to face off on June 4.
The draw ceremony for the AFC Asian Cup’s preliminary round will be taking place on May 9 in Riyadh.
Bahrain are in pot three for the draw, along with Thailand, China, Palestine, Vietnam, and Tajikistan.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))