FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S under-23 Olympic football team came up agonisingly short last night in their bid to secure a spot in the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026.
The Bahrainis fell to a late and heartbreaking 1-2 loss to 10-man Qatar in their concluding Group H fixture of the qualifiers, played yesterday at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
The nationals took the lead in the contest and appeared to be headed for an all-important victory, which would have increased their chances of punching their tickets to next year’s continental competition. But the Qataris came up with the late heroics at home, scoring twice in second-half stoppage time, including the 99th-minute winner from the penalty spot converted by Jassem Al Sharshani.
The Bahrainis thus suffered their second loss in three matches to go with just one win to stay on three points in third place on the divisional table – not enough to put them through to the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026.
The Qataris claimed their third straight win to complete qualification with an unbeaten record and nine points, plus the automatic berth in the tournament finals.
India ranked second in the pool after defeating Brunei Darussalam 6-0 in last night’s other Group H clash at Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in the Qatari capital. The result earned the Indians their second win as they went to six points – putting them in contention for a qualifying berth as one of four best runners-up, but it eventually was not enough.
Brunei Darussalam ended their campaign with three losses and zero points.
Bahrain headed into last night’s affair needing to take the full three points to have any hopes of making it through to next year’s showcase, set to be held in Saudi Arabia.
Only the winners from the 11 qualifying pools, along with the four best runners-up, punch their tickets to the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026.
Along with the Qataris, the others to qualify and join hosts Saudi in the 16-nation competition were Jordan from Group A, Japan from Group B, Vietnam from Group C, Australia from Group D, Kyrgyzstan from Group E, Thailand from Group F, Iraq from Group G, Iran from Group I, South Korea from Group J, and Syria from Group K, while the four best-runners-up were China, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, and the UAE.
In Bahrain’s defeat last night, Olympic team head coach Ali Abdulmajeed fielded a starting 11 that included goalkeeper Abdullah Fareh, Mahmood Al Bannai, Sayed Mahmoud Al Mosawi, Bader Al Asam, Hashem Khelaifat, Salman Younis, Khaled Al Khalaf, Issa Abdulla, Abdulla Al Obaidli, Saud Mohsen, and Mohammed Al Shaikhani.
After a goalless first half, substitute Abdulrahman Al Khayyat put the nationals ahead with a header in the 71st minute. Al Khayyat sent in a long cross from the right supplied brilliantly by Al Bannai.
But Qatar came alive late in the closing stages, and Al Hashmi Al Hussain scored from an acute angle in the first minute of added time at the end of the second half. Four minutes later, Qatar’s Ayoub Mohamed Al Ouwi was sent off, but that did little to affect their determination as they pressed for the winner.
The Qataris were then awarded a penalty after Noureldan Ebrahim was taken down by Bahrain’s Abdulla on a quick counter-attack. Al Sharshani stepped forward to send the spot kick into the net to seal the win.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))