FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S squad that will be competing in the highly anticipated 26th Gulf Cup, kicking off next week in Kuwait City, was announced yesterday.
National team head coach Dragan Talajic has called up 26 players for the prestigious tournament, organised by the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) and scheduled to be held until January 3.
The Bahrainis are one of eight senior men’s delegations taking part in the event. They are in Group B for the preliminary round alongside Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, while Group A is composed of hosts Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, and Qatar.
All teams, with exception of Yemen, are also currently still competing in the third round of Asian qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
A majority of Bahrain’s roster for the Gulf Cup were part of the team that won the kingdom’s only title in its 2019 edition.
They are to be spearheaded this year by the leading talents Komail Al Aswad, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Ali Madan, Mahdi Humaidan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, and Ebrahim Lutfhallah, to name a few.
It also includes a number of top veterans such as Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, Ismaeel Abdullatif, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Jassim Al Shaikh, Hazza Ali, Abdulwahab Al Malood, and Mohammed Al Rumaihi.
The list is completed by Ammar Mohammed, Hamad Shamsan, Abdulla Al Khalasi, Mohammed Adel, Vincent Emmanuel, Abbas Al Asfoor, Sayed Ahmed Al Wadaei, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Ebrahim Al Khattal, and Hussain Abdulkarim.
From this squad, Al Rumaihi and Adel were the new call-ups who were not part of the national team in their previous outings last month in FIFA World Cup qualifying. Dropped from that line-up were Ahmed Nabeel, Moses Atede, and Ali Haram.
The nationals will be kicking off their preparations this evening with a training gathering at the Bahrain Football Association pitches in Riffa. They are then scheduled to travel to the Kuwaiti capital tomorrow morning in their final lead-up to the Gulf Cup.
The Bahrainis open their campaign in the competition’s preliminary round against the Saudis on Sunday at 8.30pm, and then face Iraq in a Christmas Day game, also at 8.30pm. They complete their group schedule against Yemen on December 28 at 5.30pm. All times are Bahrain.
The three matches are set to take place at Kuwait City’s Jaber Al Ahmad International Stadium. The top two sides in each group at the end of the single round-robin will move on to the semi-finals. The winners of those games will then battle for the coveted title.
In Bahrain’s only title triumph in the 2019 tournament, they defeated Saudi in the final, with Portuguese coach Helio Sousa at the helm. Al Rumaihi scored the match’s lone goal that secured the crown for the kingdom.
In the previous edition of the Gulf Cup, held in Basra, Iraq in January of last year, the Bahrainis were the holders. They topped their group with two wins from three games but then lost in the semi-finals 0-1 to Oman. The host Iraqis went on to clinch their fourth Gulf Cup title with a 3-2 victory against the Omanis after extra-time.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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