Bahrain set for futsal qualifiers

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain have named a final 14 - player squad that will be competing in the qualifiers for the 2024 AFC Futsal Asian Cup , starting this weekend.

The Kingdom’s national futsal team are in a tough Group F for the qualification competition, which features 31 countries in all divided into eight groups, each of which is being hosted at a centralised venue.

Bahrain is one of the hosts, and matches will be taking place from Saturday at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town.

The Bahrainis are in the same group as Kuwait, Timor-Leste and Brunei. Bahrain’s Brazilian head coach Rafael Fogageiro has selected his squad for the event.

The roster includes Sayed Fadhel Radhi, Sayed Mohammed Hameed, Loay Al Mahfouz, Mohammed Al Sindi, Falah Abbas, Jassam Anan, Saleh Sinjar, Salman Al Mulla, Mirza Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Antar, Ahmed Abdulnabi, Hassan Mohammed, Ammar Mihad and Fares Shirin.

The nationals open their campaign on Saturday against Timor-Leste, and then face Brunei on Monday.

They then complete the qualifiers on Wednesday against Kuwait.

Qualification’s eight group winners earn automatic berths in next year’s AFC Futsal Asian Cup along with the seven bestranked runners-up and the host national team.

Group A features hosts Thailand, Turkmenistan, Hong Kong and China; Group B consists of hosts Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Macau; Group C includes Iran, Lebanon, hosts Kyrgyzstan and Maldives; Group D features Vietnam, South Korea, Nepal and hosts Mongolia; Group E is comprised of hosts Tajikistan, Myanmar, Palestine and India; Group G is composed of hosts Uzbekistan, Iraq, Malaysia and Cambodia; and Group H includes Japan, hosts Chinese-Taipei and Australia.

Bahrain will be aiming to qualify for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup for only the fourth time in the tournament’s history.

The hosts of next year’s event have yet to be determined.

The nationals previously also played in the 2002, 2018 and 2022 tournaments, with their best finish in the 2018 event in Taiwan where they reached the quarter-finals.

The competition also acts as the qualification for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, with five teams from the AFC booking a berth in the global competition, also to be held next year in September and October.