FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S bid to qualify for the Fifa World Cup 2026 took another blow yesterday.
The kingdom’s senior men’s football national team went down fighting against heavily favoured Japan 0-2 at Saitama Stadium 2002.
Goals in the second half from substitute Daichi Kamada and Takefusa Kubo separated the two sides. Kamada opened the hosts’ account in the 66th minute – just three minutes after coming on – and then Kubo sealed their victory in the 87th minute.
The result marked Bahrain’s third loss in seven games in Group C of this ongoing third round of Asian qualification. The nationals remained on six points and in fifth place on the six-nation table.
Japan, on the other hand, became the first team to officially book their seat through the worldwide continental qualifiers in next year’s Fifa World Cup. They claimed their sixth win in their seven outings to improve to 19 points while staying unbeaten so far.
Bahrain’s bid to qualify has become even tougher following Australia’s 5-1 win over Indonesia in another Group C fixture yesterday. The Australians were rampant at Sydney Football Stadium in claiming their second win of this stage to rise to 10 points. Indonesia were dealt their third loss and remained on six, but are ranked above Bahrain on the table.
Bahrain and Indonesia face off in the two teams’ next assignment, scheduled for Tuesday next week at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. The Bahrainis must win to stay in contention for a direct qualifying berth with only two more games to play in June.
In last night’s third contest in Group C, Saudi Arabia edged past 10-man China 1-0 at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh. The Saudis claimed their second win to go to nine points for third place, while China stayed last with six points.
“Congratulations to the Japan national team for qualifying for the next World Cup in 2026,” Bahrain head coach Dragan Talajic said during his post-game Press conference yesterday.
“I wish them to be really a big surprise there because they have real quality to make something in the World Cup.
“I also have to say my full congratulations to my colleague, coach [Hajime] Moriyasu. He is making a beautiful job and I wish him all the best in the World Cup.
“I have to say I am so proud of my boys. They are trying their best what we can, but this kind of quality from the Japan national team is unbelievable.
“We are really keeping them for 80 minutes, before the second goal, to be a little bit shaky. But this first goal, this is something unbelievable, how Japan played for this goal. This is high quality.
“I hope and wish that Japan in the next three games take the full nine points, to make our road a little bit easier [laughs].”
Talajic fielded a starting 11 yesterday that included Ebrahim Luthfallah in goal, Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Hamad Shamsan, and Abdulla Al Khalasi in defence; Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Ali Madan, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, and Mahdi Humaidan in midfield; and Mahdi Abduljabbar up front.
Abduljabbar nearly gave Bahrain a dream start with a stunning acrobatic effort in the sixth minute. He had a bicycle kick following a cross from Madan go just inches over the crossbar.
Japan then appeared to have gone ahead in the ninth minute when skipper and Liverpool player Wataru Endo scored from close range. But his goal was disallowed after a VAR review determined that teammate Takumi Minamino handled the ball in the lead-up to Endo’s strike.
Bahrain did enough to keep the nil-nil scoreline heading into the break, with the Japanese having a number of other close chances to break the deadlock.
After the re-start, the home team began to take control following a number of key personnel changes by Moriyasu. One of them was the introduction of Kamada, who came on for Minamino. The Crystal Palace player immediately made an impact by putting his team ahead. Kamada scored after a brilliant through-pass from Kubo sent him to a one-on-one with Luthfallah, and he coolly sent the ball into the net despite pressure from Bahrain’s chasing defenders.
Humaidan came close for Bahrain just three minutes later with a header off a long pass from Luthfallah, and Al Khalasi had a missed opportunity in the 79th minute off a free-kick supplied by Saeed.
Luthfallah then made a wonderful diving save in the 85th minute on a shot by Kubo from the left of the area. But it was followed just two minutes later by Kubo’s decisive strike that put Japan 2-0 ahead.
The Real Sociedad talent scored from an acute angle close to the six-yard box on the left, shooting through a narrow gap between Lutfhallah and the left post.
His goal put the game away and secured Japan’s place in the Fifa World Cup 2026.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))