FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN named a 30-player senior men’s football national team last night that will compete in the 2026 CFA China Team Zhaoqing International Football Invitational Tournament, to be held in China kicking off next weekend.
The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) announced the call-ups of newly signed Spanish head coach Felix Sanchez ahead of his first competition in charge – albeit a friendly event.
Many of Bahrain’s top stars were selected for international duty, including Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Alaswad, Ali Madan, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Abdulla Alkhalasi, and goalkeeper Ebrahim Luthfallah, while the list also marked the return of striker Abdulla Yusuf following a lengthy absence from the kingdom’s senior men’s national team.
The rest of Sanchez’s call-ups include Moses Atede, Omar Saber, Vincent Emmanuel, Abbas Alasfoor, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ali Aldoseri, Ahmed Rabea, Ahmed Bughammar, Jassim Khelaif, Ahmed Alsherooqi, Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Mohammed Adel, Hashem Sayed Issa, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Hazza Ali, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Jassim Ben Jamea, Bader Alasam, and goalkeepers Godwill Chia Ndang, Omar Salem, and Mohammed Elgharably.
Amongst the high-profile talents who were not called up were Mahdi Humaidan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, and Jassim Alshaikh.
The squad announced yesterday for the 2026 CFA China Team Zhaoqing International Football Invitational Tournament are scheduled to begin their training programme tomorrow at the BFA pitches in Riffa. wSanchez held last night the concluding day of practices for his initial roster of call-ups of 29 players, a number of whom have also been named onto the list that will be travelling to China.
The upcoming friendly competition is scheduled to be held from November 14 to 17 featuring four senior men’s national teams, including Yemen, Malaysia, Bahrain, and the hosts Chinese.
The Bahrainis will play just two matches, first against Yemen on November 14 and then against China on November 17. They will not be facing off with their Malaysian counterparts.
They are scheduled to depart for East Asia on Monday next week while today will be a rest day.
Bahrain were planning to compete in the event as part of their final preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2027, but the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has decided to reschedule the prestigious tournament to December of 2027 and January of 2028 from its original dates in January and February of next year.
The Bahrainis could instead play in another international tournament featuring 14 national teams, including 12 from West Asia and another two invited.
It has been reported that discussions are still ongoing to organise this event, which would be a replacement for many of the participating squads who were set to take to the pitch in the AFC Asian Cup.
In attendance during last night’s training session at the BFA were General Sports Authority deputy chairman and Bahrain Combat Sports Council president Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, BFA vice-president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa, and senior men’s national team supervisor Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa Al Khalifa, amongst other officials.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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