FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S youth men’s football national team kick off their qualifying bid today for the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2027.
The kingdom’s representatives are set to hit the pitch in Group G of the qualification competition, which is to be played in Salalah, Oman until November 20.
The Bahrainis are one of five teams in their pool, which also features Kuwait, Lebanon, Brunei, and hosts Oman. They are amongst a 35-nation field that has been divided into seven groups in the qualifiers, with each being hosted at a centralised venue.
The Bahrain Football Association announced a final 23-player squad for Salalah. The roster includes Rayan Alajmi, Zain Alsaffar, Bader Abdulaziz, Abbas Mohammed, Sayed Mahdi Jaafar, Ebrahim Talafat, Jassim Matrouk, Ali Salman, Hamad Alhajri, Abdulrahman Majid, Mohammed Almulhem, Ali Alkhalaqi, Haitham Shafi, Mohammed Ammar, Abdulaziz Buallay, Khaled Alsaeed, Essa Almalki, Mohammed Attia, Ziad Mohammed, Ali Khaled, and goalkeepers Adnan Buali, Abdulla Alrowaie, and Mohammed Khaled.
The Bahrainis are coached by Bahraini tactician Khalid Hassan.
They open their campaign today against Kuwait at 4pm. They then take on Brunei on Wednesday next week at 7pm before facing the host Omanis in their penultimate fixture on November 17 at 4pm. They then complete their schedule against Lebanon on November 20 at 4pm. All times are Bahrain.
Only the winners of each group from the qualifiers will advance to the 22nd edition of the AFC U17 Asian Cup, which will be held in May of next year. They will join the nine Asian Football Confederation (AFC) representatives from the Fifa U-17 World Cup 2026, who have automatically qualified, including Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Bahrain’s youth men’s squad are coming off their participation in the second U-17 Gulf Cup in Doha, Qatar, where they finished third amongst five teams in their preliminary round group and did not advance to the knockouts.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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