FOOTBALL – Bahrain’s senior men’s football national team will kick off their preparations for the fast-approaching 27th Gulf Cup on Sunday next week, a Bahrain Football Association (BFA) official told the GDN last night.
The kingdom’s squad head into the eight-nation competition, scheduled for September 23 to October 6 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as defending champions.
They will begin their final lead-up to the competition with a local training gathering at the BFA pitches in Riffa.
Their upcoming programme will start with a majority of the 35 internationals expected to be called up by head coach Dragan Talajic.
The BFA is scheduled to announce the Croatian tactician’s preliminary list of players this weekend, said the BFA official, but several of Bahrain’s talents will miss the first few days of practices due to club commitments – among whom will be from Muharraq and Al Khaldiya, who will both be competing in the AFC Champions League Two starting next week, as well as Bahrain’s overseas-based professionals.
The Bahrainis will then enter a camp at a local five-star hotel prior to their departure for Jeddah on September 20.
Talajic will be trimming his squad by then to 26 players, which will be the final roster for this year’s Gulf Cup.
The competition is also known as ‘Khaleeji 27’, and it is being organised by the Gulf Football Federation (GFF).
Bahrain are set to play in Group B for the preliminary round alongside Qatar, the UAE, and Yemen, while Group A is composed of Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, and hosts Saudi.
The nationals kick off their repeat-title bid against Qatar on September 24, scheduled for a 9pm kick-off.
The Bahrainis will then face off with the UAE on September 27, also at 9pm, before completing this stage against Yemen on September 30, kicking off at 8.30pm.
All times are Bahrain, and all three games will be played at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
The Bahrainis will be hoping to finish amongst their group’s top two to advance to the semi-finals, slated for October 3.
The final will then be held on October 6 at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Tickets for the tournament are now available via the GFF’s official ticketing website the-gff.com/tickets and through the GFF Tickets app.
Bahrain won the 26th Gulf Cup in January of 2025 after defeating Oman 2-1 in a thrilling final played in Kuwait City in Kuwait.
It was their second title in the regional tournament, adding to their historic maiden triumph in the 24th edition held in 2019, when the Bahrainis were coached by Portugal’s Helio Sousa.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh