Bahrain set for Korea test in Asian Cup opener

TDT | Manama                                                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com     

Bahrain will face off with continental giants South Korea in their opening match of the AFC Asian Cup 2023, to be held in Doha in January of next year.

The contest is both teams’ first assignment in Group E of the tournament’s preliminary round. It will be held on January 15 at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium with a 2.30pm kick-off, Bahrain time.

The competition’s match schedule was confirmed following the completion of the official draw held on Thursday at Katara Opera House in the Qatari capital.

The Bahrainis then play Malaysia in their next fixture on January 20.

The game will be held at the same venue with a 5.30pm kick-off. Bahrain’s final match of the preliminaries will be on January 25 against Jordan, set to take place at Khalifa International Stadium with a 2.30pm kick-off.

The AFC Asian Cup’s group stage kicks off on January 12 and continues until the 25th. There will then be two rest days on January 26 and 27, to be followed by the round of 16 knockouts, taking place between January 28 and 31.

The quarter-finals are then scheduled for February 2 and 3, after which the semi-finals will take place February 6 and 7.

The final will then be held on February 10. Only the top two teams from each of the six preliminary round groups, plus the four best third-placed sides, will advance to the round of 16.

Group A in the first phase features tournament hosts and defending champions Qatar along with two-time runners-up China, Tajikistan and Lebanon.

Group B will see 2015 champions Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria and India contesting for the knockout stage spots. Three-time winners Iran, 1996 runners-up the UAE, Hong Kong and Palestine are in Group C; while record four-time winners Japan, Indonesia, 2007 champions Iraq and Vietnam were drawn in Group D.

Group F will have three-time winners Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan and Oman.

Next year’s event will be the seventh time Bahrain will be playing in the AFC Asian Cup, after also competing in 1988 as well as in the tournament’s last five editions in 2004, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019.

The Bahrainis’ best finish was fourth in 2004, while the nationals made it to the round of 16 in the previous edition in 2019.

Attending Thursday’s draw ceremony in Doha were Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Bahrain Football Association (BFA) president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, BFA secretary general Rashid Al Zoubi, and national team assistant coach Ahmed Isa Al Amrei.