FOOTBALL – DEFENDING champions Bahrain were yesterday drawn in a tough Group B for the preliminary round of the 27th Gulf Cup, scheduled to be held later this year in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The eight-nation tournament’s official draw ceremony was conducted in Jeddah yesterday by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation.
The kingdom’s senior men’s football national team was represented in the gathering by Bahrain Football Association board member and national team supervisor Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa Al Khalifa, national team head coach Dragan Talajic, and former Bahraini international Ali Saeed.
The Bahrainis were slotted into Group B where they are to be joined by the UAE, Qatar and Yemen. Group A is composed of Iraq, Oman, Kuwait and hosts Saudi.
The 27th Gulf Cup, also known as ‘Khaleeji 27’, is scheduled for September 23 to October 6.
Bahrain were the champions of the competition’s previous edition held in December of 2024 and January of 2025. They defeated Oman 2-1 in the final to capture their second title in tournament history, adding to their maiden crown in 2019.
Bahrain are scheduled to kick off their latest training gathering tomorrow in preparation for the 27th Gulf Cup as well as for the AFC Asian Cup 2027, which will be taking place in January and February of next year.
Talajic has called up 30 players for this upcoming period, which will see the nationals play two international friendly matches in Europe as part of their overseas camp in early June.
The Bahrainis will first take on Georgia’s senior men’s national team on June 5, to be held at Mikheil Maski Stadium in Tbilisi; and then will play Syria’s senior men’s squad on June 9 at Gloria Sports Arena in Antalya, Türkiye.
For this gathering, Talajic has selected Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Madan, Mahdi Humaidan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Abdulla Alkhalasi, Sayed Mahmoud Almosawi, Hassan Alkarani, Hashem Sayed Issa, Ebrahim Alkhattal, Ahmed Bughammar, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Saleh Alzubaidi, Ali Al Doseri, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Rabeea, Ahmed Dhiya, Hamad Al Shamsan, Vincent Emmanuel, Abbas Al Asfoor, Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Sayed Mahdi Sharaf, Omar Saber and goalkeepers Omar Salem, Mohammed Elgharably, Abdulla Efrih Alahmed and Godwill Chia Ndang.
Bahrain are set to hold the first part of their training gathering in the kingdom, with practices at the BFA pitches in Riffa. They will play a scrimmage match on Monday next week before travelling to the Georgian capital on June 2.
The 27th Gulf Cup is scheduled for September 23 to October 6 in Jeddah.
Aside from the regional clash, the Bahrainis will also be gearing up for their continental participation in the AFC Asian Cup 2027, slated for January 7 to February 5 next year and to be held across three cities in Saudi.
Bahrain are part of a 24-nation field in the prestigious Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competition. They will be in Group B for the preliminaries along with North Korea, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
Group A features Kuwait, Oman, Palestine and hosts Saudi; Group C includes Iran, Syria, Kyrgyzstan and China; Group D is composed of Australia, Tajikistan, Iraq and Singapore; Group E comprises South Korea, the UAE, Vietnam and either Lebanon or Yemen; and Group F features Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and defending champions Qatar.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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