Bahrain to face Nepal in joint-qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain are all set to resume their joint-qualification bid for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the AFC Asian Cup 2027.

The Kingdom’s senior men’s national football team take on their counterparts from Nepal twice within a span of a week, both at home.

They first host the Nepalese tomorrow and then face them again on Tuesday next week.

Each tie is scheduled for a 10pm kick-off and they will be played at the National Stadium in Riffa.

The Bahrainis are currently in second place in qualifying’s Group H behind the UAE and ahead of Yemen and Nepal.

This week’s games will be their third and fourth in this stage of the qualifiers.

The nationals had previously beaten Yemen 2-0 in their opening assignment held in November of last year, but then lost to the UAE 0-2 in their next fixture later that same month.

Following these upcoming ties with the Nepalese, their final two outings will be against Yemen at home on June 6, and then away against the UAE on June 11.

Bahrain have entered an internal camp at InterContinental Regency Bahrain under the supervision of head coach Dragan Talajic from Croatia in preparation for this week’s matches.

They have continued their on-field training at the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) pitches in Riffa, with all of the 30-player squad called up by Talajic already with the team.

Star players Ali Madan and Abdulla Yusuf, two of Bahrain’s overseas-based professionals, were the final two players to join training.

Calling the shots

The two fixtures against Nepal will be the first time Talajic will be calling the shots for the Kingdom’s squad since taking over for Argentinian Juan Antonio Pizzi, whose two-year contract was terminated last month by the BFA with mutual consent after just over half-a-year in the job.

Nepal’s national team have also begun their training in the Kingdom and are here with a 23-player squad.

At the end of this stage of the joint-qualifiers, the winners and runners-up of each of the nine groups advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification, and also book their direct tickets to the AFC Asian Cup 2027.

Tomorrow’s contest was originally scheduled to take place in Kathmandu, but the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) issued a statement saying that their match venue’s conditions were unsatisfactory.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) then approved a proposal from the BFA for the game to be held here.