Bahrain set for West Asian under-23 football championship

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain are one of nine Olympic football teams who will be competing in this year’s West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U-23 Championship, to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The compe

tition is scheduled to take place November 3 to 18. The other competing nations are hosts Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Yemen. The draw is scheduled for October 20 at the WAFF headquarters in Amman.

It will be held virtually. According to the tournament system, the teams will be divided into three groups of three squads each.

Following a single round-robin, the first-placed team from each group along with the best second-placed team will advance to the semi-finals.

Bahrain’s under-23 squad are coached by Croatian tactician Dario Basic. They currently have their sights set on the qualifiers for the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2024, which will be held next year.

The AFC U23 Asian Cup is the premier continental event for Olympic teams. Bahrain have taken part in the tournament just once in the past in 2020, when they did not make it past the group stage.

The 2024 tournament will mark the sixth edition. The last event was played in June of this year in Uzbekistan, and Saudi Arabia were crowned champions among the 16 participating nations. Bahrain did not qualify.