Bahrain face Bangladesh in U-20 Asian Cup qualifier

TDT | Manama                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Hosts Bahrain take on Bangladesh tonight as the Group B qualifiers for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 kick off in the Kingdom. Five junior national teams from across the continent are taking part in this division. The three other teams are Bhutan, Qatar and Nepal. The Bahrainis play the Bangladeshis at 9pm after Bhutan and Nepal lock horns at 6pm. Both contests are set to be played at the Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Ali Khalifa Stadium at Muharraq Club in Arad. Matches continue until Sunday next week, with the group winners earning a direct berth to next year’s continental tournament. The runners-up will need to be one of the best five from the 10 qualifying groups to earn a ticket.

Bahrain are coached by Adel Al Nuaimi, who has named his final 23-player squad for the qualifiers. The roster includes Mohammed Hassan Jaafar, Ahmed Dhiya Ali, Abdulla Sultan Al Khalisi, Abdullatif Al Taie, Sayyed Mahmood Mousawi, Kashem Luay Khuleifat, Abdulla Ali Al Subaie, Sayed Ali Hussain, Abdulrahman Hameed, Mubarak Mohammed bin Ahmed, Salem Issa Al Dosari, Talal Ebrahim Saleh, Ali Hammoud Al Dosari, Issa Abdulla Ali, Saad Abdulla Attar, Ahmed Mohammed Abdulla, Jawad Ali Eid, Abdulla Jamal Hashem, Ramzi Abdulla Khudair, Mahmood Mohammed Ahmed, Abdulla Ali Al Ahmed, Abdulla Ali Al Aker and Mustafa Mohammed. There are 44 teams overall in the qualification competition.

The 10 groups are each being hosted at a centralised venue. Group A is to be held in Saudi Arabia, Group C in Laos, Group D in Jordan, Group E in Mongolia, Group F in Indonesia, Group G in Oman, Group H in Iraq, Group I in Tajikistan and Group J in Kyrgyzstan. Following tonight’s match against Bangladesh, Bahrain take on Nepal on Wednesday. The Bahrainis then face Bhutan on September 16 and then wrap up their campaign against Qatar on September 18.

The AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023 is scheduled to take place in Uzbekistan from March 1 to 18 next year. It will be the 41st edition of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) event. A total of 16 teams will play in the tournament.