Bahrainis amongst 16 national teams set to compete in AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2024

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A 14-player national futsal team will be flying the Bahrain flag at the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2024. The tournament is scheduled to be held from April 17 to 28 in Bang - k o k , Thai - land.

It will feature 16 nations from across the continent. The Bahrain Football Association announced the final team roster, selected by head coach Rafael Fogageiro from Brazil.

The roster includes Sayed Fadhel Mahfouz, Sayed Mohammed Hameed, Loay Al Mahfouz, Amin Muhammad, Saleh Ahmed, Mohammed Abdulla, Jassam Anan, Mohammed Al Sindi, Hassan Ebrahim, Mirza Al Nuaimi, Ammar Hassan, Hassan Mohammed, Hamad Abdulla, and Ali Al Araibi.

The Bahrainis, who departed yesterday for the Thai capital, have been drawn in a challenging Group D for the tournament’s preliminary round.

The nationals are alongside Iran, Kuwait and Afghanistan.

Group A features hosts Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and China; Group B includes Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Australia; and Group C is composed of defending champions Japan, Tajikistan, South Korea and Kyrgyzstan.

Bahrain open their campaign on April 18 against the Kuwaitis, and then take on their Iranian counterparts two days later on April 20.

They then take on Afghanistan in their concluding Group D fixture on April 22.

The best two sides in each of the four pools move on to the quarter-finals, which is scheduled to be held on April 24.

The semi-finals follow on April 26, and then the gold medal contest, as well as the game for third place, will be held on April 28.

Qualify The top four finishers at the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Thailand 2024 will qualify for the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024, which will take place between September 14 and October 6, marking the first time the global showpiece will be held in Central Asia.

Should Uzbekistan—who have already qualified for the World Cup as hosts—advance to the semi-finals, the four losing quarter-finalists will play off for the fourth ticket.

Bahrain booked their seats in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2024 after finishing as runners-up in their qualifying group, which was hosted by the Kingdom.

The nationals won two of their three assignments and have qualified for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup for only the fourth time in the tournament’s history.

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.

This year’s event is Bahrain’s third successive appearance in the continental competition.

The last edition of the competition, held in Kuwait in 2022, saw Bahrain eliminated from the group stage, after losing two of their preliminary round games and drawing the other.

Japan went on to clinch the title after beating Iran 3-2 in the final.