FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN announced yesterday the final 26-player squad for their highly anticipated title-defence in the 27th Gulf Cup.
The eight-nation regional competition, organised by the Gulf Football Federation (GFF) and recognised by Fifa, kicks off on Wednesday next week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) released the roster selected by senior men’s football national team head coach Dragan Talajic.
The Croatian and his technical staff have been training with a preliminary national squad since last weekend at the BFA pitches at Riffa, missing a number of key names due to club commitments.
The Bahrainis are set to have their complete team over the remainder of their lead-up to the Gulf Cup.
Their roster is to be spearheaded by top stars Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Ali Madan, Mahdi Humaidan, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Abdulla Alkhalasi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Amine Benaddi, and popular goalkeeper Ebrahim Luthfallah.
The rest of the list includes Jassim Al Shaikh, Abbas Al Asfoor, Hamad Shamsan, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Rabea, Hassan Alkarani, Omar Saber, Vincent Emmanuel, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Hashem Sayed Issa, Mohammed Alrumaihi, Ebrahim Alkhattal, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Ali Aldoseri, and goalkeepers Omar Salem and Mohammed Elgharably.
A majority of the players also flew the kingdom’s flag in their historic title triumph in the competition’s 26th edition held in December of 2024 and January of 2025 in Kuwait City, Kuwait, where Bahrain won the coveted trophy for the second time after defeating Oman 2-1 in a thrilling final. That added to their maiden crown in 2019.
The nationals are scheduled to enter a closed camp today at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence and Spa.
They are then set to depart for Jeddah on Sunday for their final lead-up to the tournament.
Bahrain are set to play in Group B in the opening stage alongside Qatar, the UAE, and Yemen, while Group A is composed of Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, and hosts Saudi.
The nationals kick off their bid to repeat as champions against Qatar on Thursday next week, scheduled for a 9pm kick-off.
Action kicks off Wednesday with Iraq playing Oman at 5.30pm followed by Kuwait going against hosts Saudi at 9pm.
The Kuwaitis, who are guided by former Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa from Portugal, were the first overseas squad to arrive in Jeddah for the competition on Wednesday.
In Bahrain’s other Group B fixtures, they face off with the UAE on September 27, also at 9pm, before completing this stage against Yemen on September 30, kicking off at 8.30pm. All times are Bahrain, and all of their three contests will be played at Jeddah’s Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
The Bahrainis will be hoping to finish amongst their group’s top two to advance to the semi-finals, slated for October 3. The final will then be held on October 6 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Tickets for the tournament are now available via the GFF’s official ticketing website the-gff.com/tickets and through the GFF Tickets app.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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