Bahrain Fall to NK Istra in Slovenian Friendly

TDT | Manama

Email : hussainm@newsofbahrain.com

National team lose 3–1 in first of two summer tune-ups ahead of Arab Cup qualifiers

Bahrain’s senior men’s football team suffered a 3–1 defeat to Croatian top-flight side NK Istra 1961 in a friendly held on July 16, 2025, in Maribor, Slovenia, as part of their overseas training camp.

The match marked the first of two friendlies for the nationals during their summer preparation. The second is scheduled for next Tuesday against Slovenian side NK Primorje.

Led by Croatian head coach Dragan Talajic, Bahrain are using the camp to fine-tune their squad ahead of key fixtures later this year, including a qualifying match against Djibouti in November for a place in the FIFA Arab Cup 2025 group stage, set to be held in Doha, Qatar this December.

The 28-player roster in Slovenia includes:

Waleed Al Hayyam, Amine Benaddi, Hamad Shamsan, Abdulla Al Khalasi, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Komail Alaswad, Ali Madan, Mahdi Humaidan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Ebrahim Luthfallah, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Ahmed Bughammar, Sayed Mahmood Al Mosawi, Hazza Ali, Vincent Emmanuel, Hussain Al Eker, Jassim Al Shaikh, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Ebrahim Al Khattal, Hussain Abdulkarim, Abdulkarim Al Fardan, Abdulla Al Subaie, Hussain Jameel, Omar Saber, Ahmed Dhiya, Ahmed Abdulhameed, Yousef Habib, and Mohammed Al Gharabli.