Bahrain U23s play out stalemate with Jordan in Asian Cup build-up

TDT | Manama

Email : hussainm@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s under-23 Olympic football team held Jordan to a goalless draw in Amman last night as part of their preparations for the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers.

The match was the first of two scheduled friendlies against their Jordanian counterparts this week. The sides will meet again tomorrow before the Bahrainis head to Qatar on Friday, just days before their qualifying campaign begins.

Bahrain have been drawn in Group H of the qualifiers alongside India, Brunei Darussalam and hosts Qatar. Their matches will be staged in Doha at Suheim bin Hamad Stadium and Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.

Olympic team head coach Ali Abdulmajeed has called up a 21-man squad for the camp and qualifiers, led by captain Mubarak Mohammed. His roster also includes Issa Abdulla, Salman Younes, Mohammed Al Shehani, Abdulla Al Qassab, Hashem Khelaifat, Bader Al Asam, Abdulla Al Obaidly, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaie, Mahmoud Al Bannai, Khaled Khalaf, Rashed Mujiran, Abdulrahman Al Khayyat, Salem Al Dosari, Ali Sahwan, Saad Al Attar, Saud Mohsen, Hassan Sameer, and goalkeepers Ashraf Mubarak, Mohammed Khalifa and Abdulla Freah.

The AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers feature 44 teams across 11 centralised groups. After a single round-robin, the winners of each group and the four best runners-up will advance to the finals, joining hosts Saudi Arabia, who are staging the competition for the first time.

Bahrain open their campaign against India on Wednesday next week, before facing Brunei Darussalam on 6 September and wrapping up against the Qataris on 9 September.