Bahrain hearts were broken this evening as the senior men’s football national team fell to a 0-1 defeat to China in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Only minutes after a VAR review disallowed a goal by Bahrain’s Ali Haram in the dying minutes of regulation, Chinese forward Zhang Yuning slotted home from close range in the opening minute of injury time. That gave the visitors the full three points in a stunning ending at the National Stadium in Riffa.
To add to their woes, Bahrain were reduced to 10 men in the 99th minute after defender Waleed Al Hayyam was given his marching orders.
The Bahrainis suffered their second loss in this stage of qualification – both at home – as they stayed on five points after five games.
Bahrain head coach Dragan Talajic has called on the kingdom’s football fans to continue supporting the national team despite their latest setback tonight in Asian qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The Croatian tactician vowed that his squad will do their best to bounce back from their heart-breaking 0-1 loss to China and they will continue to fight until the very end.
“We were unlucky tonight," Talajic said in his post-game Press conference this evening.
"We missed an excellent opportunity. We did not deserve to lose this game.
“All of us in the team are very angry about this result, but we will continue to fight.
“We will analyse this game and see why we lost, but what we need from all our supporters is to keep trusting in us. We have another five games still to play in this round of qualifiers, and we will do our best to catch the teams in front of us.”
More in tomorrow’s GDN and online.
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