FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S senior men’s football national team will be holding an overseas training camp in China next month as part of their participation in the CFA China Team Guangzhou International Football Invitational Tournament 2026, the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) announced yesterday.
The nationals are scheduled to depart for East Asia on November 9, just a little over a week after newly appointed head coach Felix Sanchez is introduced to the national media on November 1.
The friendly competition is then scheduled to be held from November 14 to 17 in Guangzhou, with the participation of four senior men’s squads. The others are Yemen, Malaysia, and hosts China.
Bahrain will first take on Yemen on November 14 and then play the Chinese on November 17. They will not be facing off with their Malaysian counterparts. The nationals are then set to fly back to the kingdom on November 18.
The Bahrainis’ participation in the CFA China Team Guangzhou International Football Invitational Tournament 2026 will be part of their preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2027, set to be held in January and February in Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain are in Group B for the prestigious 24-team Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competition along with North Korea, Uzbekistan, and Jordan. The Bahrainis take on their North Korean counterparts in their opening preliminary round match on January 8. Their next fixture is then slated for January 13 against Jordan, after which they complete their divisional campaign against Uzbekistan on January 17.
The group stage will conclude on January 20 before the round of 16 commences two days later. The quarter-finals follow on January 28 and 29, and then the semis will be played on February 1 and 2. The final is then set for February 5 at 8pm, Bahrain time, at the King Fahd Sports City Stadium in the Saudi capital.
Group A is composed of Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, and the host Saudis; Group C features Iran, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, and China; Group D comprises Australia, Tajikistan, Iraq, and Singapore; Group E includes South Korea, the UAE, Vietnam, and Yemen; and Group F features Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and defending champions Qatar.
The AFC Asian Cup 2027 will then be Sanchez’s first official competition with Bahrain. The Spaniard was announced just earlier this month as having reached an agreement with the BFA to fill the role vacated by former head tactician Dragan Talajic.
Next year’s tournament will be the eighth time Bahrain are taking part in the AFC’s showpiece tournament. Their best finish was in 2004, when they finished fourth out of 16 participating nations.
&uuid=(email))