FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S youth men’s football national team have travelled to the UAE for an overseas training camp in preparation for the second edition of the U-17 Gulf Cup.
The Gulf Football Federation (GFF) event is scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar from October 16 to November 4.
It will feature 10 nations, making it its biggest edition in history.
A 25-player squad has travelled to the Emirates for their camp, during which they will play two friendly games against their hosts and counterparts. The first will be today and the next on Monday next week. The Bahrainis are then scheduled to return to the kingdom on Tuesday.
Bahrain’s team, coached by Ugo Klingor from Croatia, features Ahmed Shakeel, Mohammed Attia, Issa Almaliki, Khaled Waleed, Abdulaziz Buallay, Hamad Adnan, Haitham Shafi, Ali Alkhalaqi, Mohammed Al Mulhem, Abdulrahman Majid, Hamad Alhajri, Rashed Jamal, Jassim Matrouk, Ebrahim Talafat, Hussain Alali, Abbas Mohammed, Fahad Nasser, Bader Abdulaziz, Elyas Abdulla, Zain Al Saffar, Rayan Alajimi, and goalkeepers Adnan Bu Ali, Abdulla Alruwaiei, Mohammed Khaled, and Hussain Ali.
The Bahrainis are in Group A for the U-17 Gulf Cup’s preliminary round alongside the UAE, Oman, tournament guests China, and hosts Qatar, while Group B is composed of reigning champions Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, and Egypt, who are also guests.
The top two squads in each group will advance to the semi-finals, which will be contested in a knockout format, with each group’s winner drawn against the runner-up from the other group.
There will be no extra time in the knockout rounds, therefore any semi-final or final still level at full-time goes straight to penalties.
The expanded line-up of participating youth national teams raises the level of competition and offers teams qualified for the Fifa U-17 World Cup 2026 in Qatar valuable preparation ahead of the tournament, which kicks off November 19.
Aside from the U-17 Gulf Cup, Bahrain’s youth men’s squad are also gearing up for the qualifiers of the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2027, to be held in November later this year.
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