FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN have named a final 26-player squad for the 2025 West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Under-23 Championship.
The regional competition is set to be held in its sixth edition from Wednesday this coming week to March 25 in Muscat, Oman.
The kingdom’s roster was announced early yesterday morning by the Bahrain Football Association (BFA). The players called up by head coach Hicham Dimai include Mohammed Arhama, Ashraf Mubarak, Abdullah Freeh, Badr Al Assam, Ahmed Mahmood, Ali Al Bannai, Sayed Mahmood Al Mosawi, Salman Younes, Faisal Saleh, Ali Al Enezi, Ramzi Abdulla, Mahmood Al Bannai, Mohammed Al Jishi, Khaled Khalaf, Ahmed Dhiya, Jamal Al Tiri, Ali Sahwan, Ali Al Dosari, Jassim Dadallah, Ali Tarada, Rashid Majeran, Hashem Khulaifat, Abdulrahman Al Khayyat, Abdulla Al Subaie, Ali Sanad, and Saud Mohsen.
Bahrain are one of eight teams from across the region participating in the WAFF U23 Championship. The others are hosts Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
The tournament’s unique format will see the participating squads taking to the pitch on three match days. On day one, Oman will take on Saudi Arabia in Group A, Bahrain will face the UAE in Group B, Syria will take on Lebanon in Group C, and Jordan will lock horns with Kuwait in Group D.
The winners of Bahrain’s match-up with their Emirati counterparts will move on to face the victors of the Oman-Saudi clash in a semi-final encounter on Saturday next week. The other game in the final four will pit the winners of the Jordan-Kuwait game against the victors of the Syria-Lebanon affair.
The losers of each game will face off in classification contests.
The concluding day of the tournament will then be headlined by the final between the two winners from the semis, while the losers will lock horns for the right to claim the bronze medals. Ranking contests will also be held to place the teams from fifth through eighth.
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