Bahrain's senior men’s national football team have entered their final preparations for their clash with Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia tomorrow night in the third round of Asian qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The game is scheduled for a 9pm kick-off, Bahrain time, and it will be played at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
The contest is the fourth for both teams in qualification Group C, where they are tied on four points apiece along with Australia. Bahrain are ranked the lowest amongst the trio due to goal difference.
Japan are currently atop the group with a maximum nine points from their undefeated record in three games, while Indonesia are fifth with three points, and China last on zero.
The Bahrainis will be holding a training session at the match venue this evening starting at 9pm, Bahrain time. Head coach Dragan Talajic will be speaking with the media in his pre-game Press conference, set for 8.30pm.
The official technical meeting will also be held today, with officials from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and representatives from the two national teams taking part.
Bahrain have travelled to Jeddah with a squad of 27 players.
They include Amine Benaddi, Abdulla Al Khalasi, Ammar Mohammed, Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, Ebrahim Luthfallah, Abbas Al Asfoor, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ali Haram, Ali Madan, Hazza Ali, Hamad Shamsan, Jassim Al Shaikh, Mahdi Humaidan, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Ismaeel Abdullatif, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Komail Al Aswad, Vincent Emmanuel, Sayed Ahmed Al Wadaei, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Ebrahim Al Khattal, Moses Atede, Waleed Al Hayyam, Ahmed Nabeel, Abdulwahab Al Malood, and Sayed Hashem Issa.
The delegation is headed by Bahrain Football Association (BFA) vice-president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa, and it includes BFA secretary general Rashid Alzaabi and national team manager Mahmood Reyadh.
The Bahrainis have been training under Talajic over the past couple of days since arriving in Saudi. They had a day of rest and recuperation upon reaching Jeddah, having just played against Indonesia on Thursday night.
A massive crowd is expected in tomorrow’s encounter with supporters from both teams.
There are three groups in all in this round of AFC qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Group A features Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, the UAE, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea; while Group B is composed of South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait.
The top two finishers from each group will punch their tickets to football’s quadrennial global spectacle.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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