TDT | Manama
Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain’s senior men’s national football team began local training sessions last night ahead of the final qualifying rounds for the continental qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which are just over the next week and a half away.
Bahrain is scheduled to face Yemen on Thursday at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City in Abha, Saudi Arabia.
They will then face the UAE at the National Stadium in Riffa on November 21st.
Thursday’s contest is scheduled to kick off at 9pm Bahrain time, with Bahrain’s subsequent home match starting at 6:30pm.
The national team has begun its final preparations under the supervision of head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) FIFA World Cup qualifying format has five rounds, with eight teams booking tickets to the Global Showcase, with the possibility of one more round after the inter-confederation play-offs.
Bahrain have advanced directly to the second qualifying round in Group H along with the UAE, Yemen and Nepal.
There are 36 countries in this stage, divided into nine groups of four.
Each team will play against each other in a home and away format.
The nine group winners and group runners-up will advance to the third round. In addition to this, they will also automatically qualify for the AFC Asian Cup 2027.
After Bahrain’s scheduled games this month, the national team will resume qualification for the first time next year.
They will play Nepal on March 21 and again on March 26. They will then play against Yemen on June 6th and conclude this stage with a match against UAE on June 11th.
Pizzi has called up 26 of Bahrain’s biggest names for the upcoming qualifying rounds.
The team includes Ali Madan, Mohamed Marhoun, Abdullah Yusuf, Moses Atedeh, Mahdi Humaidan, Ahmed Buganmal, Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Al Hadan, Abdulkarim Al Fardan, Ali Hassan, Saeed – Includes Mahdi Baqer, Hussein al-Aker, Komail al-Aswad, and Jassim al-Shaikh. , Mohamed Abdul-Qayoum, Hazza Ali, Saeed Mohamed Jaafar, Amin Hassan, Waleed Al-Khayyam, Abdullah Al-Kharasi, Mubarak Mohamed, Ebrahim Lutfallah, Abdullah Al-Hashash, Ebrahim Al -Hatar, Mohamed Abdulwahab, Ebrahim Al Wali. Apart from qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, Bahrain is also preparing for the next AFC Asian Cup to be held in Doha next January.
These will be the national team’s first official matches under coach Pizzi.
Veteran goalkeeper Saeed Mohamed Jaafar training with the national team