FOOTBALL – Bahrain’s under-20 football national team kicked off their final preparations last night for their upcoming campaign at home next week in the AFC U20 Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers.
The kingdom hosts a challenging Group D in qualification, where the junior nationals will be taking on Tajikistan, Jordan, and Afghanistan.
Matches will be played at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town from Monday to September 6.
The nationals, coached by former senior men’s national team and Muharraq Club star midfielder Ali Aamer, recently conducted an overseas training camp in Muscat, Oman in preparation for qualifying and also played a number of friendly games.
The Bahrainis open their schedule against Tajikistan on Monday before taking on Jordan on Thursday next week.
They then complete their qualification bid against Afghanistan on the concluding day of action. All their matches are scheduled to kick off at 8.30pm.
Bahrain are one of 32 sides in the qualifiers. The field has been divided into eight groups of four, with each pool’s games being held at a centralised location.
The other hosts are Kyrgyzstan for Group A, Uzbekistan for Group B, Vietnam for Group C, Qatar for Group E, Thailand for Group F, Cambodia for Group G, and Laos for Group H.
Following a single round-robin, the eight group winners and the seven best second-placed teams will advance to the 43rd edition of the AFC U20 Asian Cup, to be held next year in China from March 24 to April 10.
Bahrain will be looking to qualify for the continental tournament for the 10th time.
They first competed in 1973 and last in 2016, but have missed the previous three editions.
The nationals’ best finish in the competition was as runners-up in 1986, while Bahrain were also third in 1977.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh