Bahrain ‘well-prepared’ for Nepal test

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain are ready to go all out for another three points when they face off with Nepal tonight in a joint-qualifier for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027.

The match is scheduled for a 10pm kick-off at the National Stadium in Riffa, and it will be the second meeting between the two national teams in a week.

The Bahrainis won their previous game 5-0 last Thursday, and the hosts will be looking to put in another strong performance tonight—although head coach Dragan Talajic acknowledged that they will have to work for the victory. “We expect a much more difficult game than the first match,” said the Croatian in his pre-match Press conference yesterday.

“We have already forgotten what happened in the first game. Inshaallah, we will give our best to collect another three points.”

The nationals head into the contest looking for a third win after four games in Group H of joint-qualification. “We will do our best to collect the six points from these two games but it will not be easy,” Talajic stressed.

“We have to fully concentrate tomorrow. We know our job and what we need to do. We are prepared well. We are only thinking about tomorrow’s game, and we will do everything to try to collect another three points.”

The Bahrainis are currently in second place on their group tab le with six points, behind undefeated leaders the UAE who have a maximum nine points from three matches.

Yemen are third on three points and Nepal last with zero points. The Emiratis and Yemenis square off in the other pool fixture tonight, to be held in Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Following tonight’s match with Nepal, Bahrain’s final two assignments of this qualifying round will be against Yemen at home on June 6, and then away against the UAE on June 11.

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.

There are five rounds in the FIFA World Cup qualification format for the AFC, which will have eight teams book their tickets to the global showcase, plus potentially another following an inter-confederation play-off.

For today’s game, star players Ali Madan and Waleed Al Hayyam will not be suiting up as they are suspended for their accumulation of yellow cards. Ahmed Bughammar is also unavailable, having suffered an injury that will keep him sidelined.

Talajic’s remaining squad list includes Sayed Mohammed Jaffar, Abdulla Al Khalasi, Hassan Al Karani, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Hussain Abdulkarim, Abdulla Ali Afreeh, Hamad Shamsan, Hazza Ali, Ali Haram, Komail Al Aswad, Jassim Al Shaikh, Ammar Mohammed, Mohammed Al Hardan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Mohammed Adel, Ahmed Nabeel, Ahmed Abdulhameed, Moses Atede, Ebrahim Luthfallah, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Abdulla Yusuf, Abdulwahab Al Malood, and Mohammed Al Bannai.