Bahrain national football team

Bahrain
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Al-Ahmar (The Red)
Association Bahrain Football Association
Confederation AFC (Asia)
Head coach Austria Josef Hickersberger
Most caps Abdulrazzaq Mohamed (102)
Top scorer Husain Ali (31)
Home stadium Bahrain National Stadium
FIFA code BHR
FIFA ranking 69
Highest FIFA ranking 44 (September 2004)
Lowest FIFA ranking 139 (March 2000)
Elo ranking T 52
Highest Elo ranking 49 (September 2009)
Lowest Elo ranking 138 (March 1979)
Home colours
Away colours
First international
Flag of Bahrain (1932 to 1972).svg Bahrain 4–4 Kuwait Kuwait
(Baghdad, Iraq; April 2, 1966)
Biggest win
Bahrain Bahrain 5–0 Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan
(Bahrain; June 9, 2004)
Bahrain Bahrain 5–0 Turkmenistan Turkmenistan
(Bahrain; 3 August 2005)
Biggest defeat
Iraq Iraq 10–1 Bahrain Flag of Bahrain (1932 to 1972).svg
(Baghdad, Iraq; April 6, 1966)
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances 3 (First in 1988)
Best result Fourth place, 2004

The Bahraini national football team (Arabic: البحريني لكرة القدم‎) is the national team of the Kingdom of Bahrain and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association; it was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966. They have never reached the finals of the World Cup, but have twice come within one match of doing so. Bahrain won the FIFA's most improved team award in 2004, and finished fourth in the 2004 Asian Cup, beating Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals but losing to Japan in the semi-finals 4–3. Bahrain then lost to Iran in the third-place match, thus finishing in fourth place overall.

After Uzbekistan and Bahrain both finished third in their respective groups during the World Cup 2006 qualifiers, Bahrain entered a two-legged playoff with Uzbekistan, which they won on away goals with an aggregate score of 1–1. This allowed Bahrain to enter another two-legged playoff with the fourth-placed CONCACAF nation, (Trinidad and Tobago), for a spot in the World Cup. But a 0–1 Bahrain loss in Manama after a 1–1 draw in Port of Spain saw the CONCACAF nation go through.

Bahrain played in group D in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification group games. Bahrain fielded a side which was essentially the Olympic (under 23) team against Australia, and they lost 2–0. Bahrain qualified for the Asian Cup 2007 after defeating Kuwait in their last match. Bahrain were knocked out in the group stages via two losses against Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, despite a win against Korea Republic.

In the third round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Bahrain were drawn into group B along with Japan, Oman, and Thailand. They finished second overall to qualify to the final round, in which Bahrain finished third overall in their group, below Australia and Japan, but above Uzbekistan and Qatar. In the second leg of the playoff against Saudi Arabia to decide Asia's fifth best team, Bahrain drew 2–2 with Saudi Arabia after scoring in stoppage time which allowed them go through on away goals, after drawing their home leg 0–0. They went on to play New Zealand in the final playoff in which the victor would qualify for the World Cup, but after a goalless draw in Manama on 10 October 2009, Bahrain lost the return leg 1–0 in Wellington, missing out on qualification at the last hurdle for the second time running.

The Bahrian national football team playing Australia on June 10, 2009 in a World Cup qualifier

Contents

World Cup record

2010 Qualification

Round 1

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg
 Bahrain 4-1  Malaysia 4-1 0-0

Round 3

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Japan 6 4 1 1 12 3 +9 13
 Bahrain 6 3 2 1 7 5 +2 11
 Oman 6 2 2 2 5 7 −2 8
 Thailand 6 0 1 5 5 14 −9 1
  Bahrain Japan Oman Thailand
Bahrain  – 1 – 0 1 – 1 1 – 1
Japan  1 – 0 – 3 – 0 4 – 1
Oman  0 – 1 1 – 1 – 2 – 1
Thailand  2 – 3 0 – 3 0 – 1 –

Round 4

Group A

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Australia 8 6 2 0 12 1 +11 20
 Japan 8 4 3 1 11 6 +5 15
 Bahrain 8 3 1 4 6 8 −2 10
 Qatar 8 1 3 4 5 14 −9 6
 Uzbekistan 8 1 1 6 5 10 −5 4
  Australia Bahrain Japan Qatar Uzbekistan
Australia  – 2 – 0 2 – 1 4 – 0 2 – 0
Bahrain  0 – 1 – 2 – 3 1 – 0 1 – 0
Japan  0 – 0 1 – 0 – 1 – 1 1 – 1
Qatar  0 – 0 1 – 1 0 – 3 – 3 – 0
Uzbekistan  0 – 1 0 – 1 0 – 1 4 – 0 –

Playoff Round 1

Team 1   Agg.   Team 2   1st leg     2nd leg  
Bahrain  (a)2-2  Saudi Arabia 0-0 2-2

Playoff Round 2

Team 1   Agg.   Team 2   1st leg     2nd leg  
Bahrain  0-1  New Zealand 0-0 0-1

FIFA World Cup (AFC) Qualification Records

FIFA World Cup Asian Qualification Records
Year Round GP W D L GS GA
1930 to
1974		 Did not enter - - - - - -
1978 Did not qualify 4 1 0 3 4 6
1982 Did not qualify 4 1 0 3 1 6
1986 Did not qualify 4 1 2 1 8 6
1990 Withdrew - - - - - -
1994 Did not qualify 8 3 3 2 9 6
1998 Did not qualify 4 1 0 3 3 9
2002 Did not qualify 14 7 4 3 17 13
2006 Did not qualify 16 5 6 5 21 14
2010 Did not qualify 20 7 7 6 19 17
Total 74 26 22 26 82 77

Asian Competitions History

AFC Asian Cup record

Final records

Asian Cup
Year Round GP W D L GF GA
1956 to 1968 Did not enter - - - - - -
1972 Did not qualify - - - - - -
1976 Withdrew - - - - - -
1980 Withdrew after qualifying - - - - - -
1984 Did not enter - - - - - -
1988 Round 1 4 0 2 2 1 3
1992 Did not qualify - - - - - -
1996 Withdrew - - - - - -
2000 Did not qualify - - - - - -
2004 Fourth place 6 1 3 2 13 14
2007 Round 1 3 1 0 2 3 7
2011 Qualified - - - - - -
Total 4/15 13 2 5 6 17 24

AFC Qualification records

Asian Cup
Year Round GP W D L GF GA
1956 to 1968 Did not enter - - - - - -
1972 Did not qualify - - - - - -
1976 Withdrew - - - - - -
1980 Withdrew after qualifying - - - - - -
1984 Did not enter - - - - - -
1988 Qualified 4 0 2 2 1 3
1992 Did not qualify - - - - - -
1996 Withdrew - - - - - -
2000 Did not qualify 6 3 0 3 6 6
2004 Qualified 6 4 1 1 14 9
2007 Qualified 4 1 1 2 3 6
2011 Qualified - - - - - -
Total 4/7 16 8 2 6 23 21

Regional Tournaments

Gulf Cup of Nations

Gulf Cup of Nations record

Gulf Cup of Nations
Year Round GP W D L GF GA
1970
2/4
3
1
1
1
3
4
1972
Record Annulled
-
-
-
-
-
-
1974
5/6
2
0
0
2
1
8
1976
4/7
6
3
0
3
9
15
1979
4/7
6
2
2
2
8
9
1982
2/6
5
3
1
1
10
7
1984
5/7
6
1
2
3
3
6
1986
5/7
6
1
4
1
4
5
1988
4/7
6
3
0
3
4
4
1990
3/5
4
1
2
1
1
1
1992
2/6
5
3
0
2
6
4
1994
3/6
5
1
3
1
5
6
1996
5/6
5
0
2
3
4
8
1998
5/6
5
0
3
2
3
6
2002
4/6
5
1
2
2
4
6
2003
2/7
6
4
1
1
13
3
2004
3/8
5
2
2
1
10
6
2007
4/8
4
1
1
2
4
5
2009
Group Stage
3
1
0
2
3
4
Total
Best: 2nd
87
28
26
33
95
107

Arab Nations Cup

Arab Nations Cup record

Arab Nations Cup
Year Round GP W D L GF GA
1963 and 1964
Did not enter
-
-
-
-
-
-
1966
5/5
4
0
1
3
7
22
1985
Runner Up
4
1
2
1
4
3
1988
Group Stage
4
0
3
1
2
3
1992
Did not enter
-
-
-
-
-
-
1998
Withdrew
-
-
-
-
-
-
2002
Runner Up
6
3
1
2
8
5
2009
Qualifications-on going
-
-
-
-
-
-
Total
Best: Runner Up
18
4
7
7
21
33

Coaches

Name Nat Period Matches Wins Draws Losses Honours
Wolfgang Sidka Germany ? – April 2003
Yves Herbet France May 2003 – ?
Srecko Juricic Croatia ?– March 2005
Wolfgang Sidka Germany April 2005 –
Luka Peruzovic Serbia – 2006
Riyadh Al-Thawadi caretaker role Bahrain – May 2006
Hans-Peter Briegel Germany May 2006 – January 2007
Milan Máčala Czech Republic March 2007 – April 2010
Josef Hickersberger Austria July 2010 – 3 1 2 0

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against New Zealand on November 14, 2009.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Sayed Mohammed Jaffer 25 August 1985 (1985-08-25) (age 25) 34 0 Bahrain Al-Muharraq
2 DF Mohamed Husain 31 July 1980 (1980-07-31) (age 30) 61 6 Qatar Umm-Salal
3 DF Ahmed Taleb 29 March 1980 (1980-03-29) (age 30) 33 4 Bahrain Manama Club
4 MF Abdulla Baba Fatadi 2 November 1985 (1985-11-02) (age 25) 23 4 Switzerland Neuchâtel Xamax
5 MF Mohamed Hubail 23 June 1981 (1981-06-23) (age 29) 58 5 Bahrain Al-Ahli
6 FW Jaycee John 8 October 1985 (1985-10-08) (age 25) 43 11 Turkey Eskisehirspor
7 MF Sayed Mahmood Jalal 5 November 1980 (1980-11-05) (age 30) 82 4 Bahrain Al-Muharraq
8 DF Ebrahim Al Mishkhas 7 July 1980 (1980-07-07) (age 30) 14 1 Bahrain Al-Muharraq
9 MF Hussain Salman 20 December 1982 (1982-12-20) (age 28) 25 1 Bahrain Al-Riffa
10 MF Mohamed Salmeen Captain sports.svg 4 November 1980 (1980-11-04) (age 30) 114 11 United Arab Emirates Al Dhafra
11 FW Ismael Abdullatif 11 September 1986 (1986-09-11) (age 24) 30 16 Bahrain Al-Riffa
12 MF Fouzi Ayesh 27 February 1985 (1985-02-27) (age 25) 37 3 Qatar Al-Sailiya
13 MF Mahmood Abdulrahman 22 November 1984 (1984-11-22) (age 26) 34 6 Bahrain Al-Muharraq
14 DF Salman Isa 12 July 1977 (1977-07-12) (age 33) 93 14 Qatar Al-Arabi
15 MF Abdullah Omar 1 January 1987 (1987-01-01) (age 24) 34 2 Switzerland Neuchâtel Xamax
16 DF Sayed Mohamed Adnan 5 February 1983 (1983-02-05) (age 28) 62 8 Qatar Al-Khor
17 DF Hussain Ali Baba 11 February 1982 (1982-02-11) (age 29) 55 6 Bahrain Al-Riffa
18 GK Abbas Ahmed Khamis 13 June 1983 (1983-06-13) (age 27) 5 0 Bahrain Al-Ahli

Recent Call Ups

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
-- GK Ali Hasan 16 August 1972 (1972-08-16) (age 38) 30 0 Bahrain Al-Muharraq
-- GK Abdulrahman Abdulkarim 13 May 1980 (1980-05-13) (age 30) 21 0 Bahrain Al-Najma
-- DF Jasim Al Malood 6 October 1987 (1987-10-06) (age 23) Bahrain Al-Najma
-- DF Rashed Isa Alallan 27 November 1987 (1987-11-27) (age 23) 4 0 Bahrain Bahrain
-- DF Abdulla Al Marzooqi 12 December 1980 (1980-12-12) (age 30) 67 5 Kuwait Al-Kuwait
-- DF Abbas Ayyad 11 May 1987 (1987-05-11) (age 23) 6 0 Bahrain Al-Ahli
-- MF Hamad Rakea Al Anezi 22 April 1984 (1984-04-22) (age 26) 13 1 Bahrain Al-Riffa
-- MF Talal Yusuf 24 February 1975 (1975-02-24) (age 35) 70 19 Bahrain Al-Riffa
-- MF Rashid Al-Dosari 24 March 1980 (1980-03-24) (age 30) 67 3 Bahrain Al-Muharraq
-- MF Hamad Al Banki 23 June 1988 (1988-06-23) (age 22) Unattached
-- MF Ali Abdulwahab 13 April 1987 (1987-04-13) (age 23) 5 0 Bahrain Al-Busaiteen
-- MF Abdulla Abdi Omar 27 March 1988 (1988-03-27) (age 22) 7 0 Bahrain Al-Riffa
-- FW Rashad Jamal Salem 18 January 1979 (1979-01-18) (age 32) 28 1 Bahrain Al-Najma
-- FW Abdulla Al-Dakeel 3 June 1985 (1985-06-03) (age 25) 12 4 Bahrain Al-Muharraq
-- FW Jamal Rashid 7 November 1988 (1988-11-07) (age 22) 8 0 Bahrain Al-Ahli
-- FW A'ala Hubail 25 June 1982 (1982-06-25) (age 28) 68 24 Bahrain Al-Ahli
-- FW Husain Ali 31 December 1981 (1981-12-31) (age 29) 91 33 Bahrain Al-Muharraq

Note: Caps and goals may be incomplete for certain players, therefore being inaccurate.

References

Football in Bahrain
Bahrain Football Association
National teams
Bahrain · Bahrain women
League system
Premier League
Domestic cups
Bahraini King's Cup · FA Cup · Bahraini Crown Prince Cup · Bahraini Super Cup
List of Clubs · Bahraini football records
International association football
FIFA · World Cup · Confederations Cup · U-20 World Cup · U-17 World Cup · Olympics · Asian Games · All-Africa Games · Pan American Games · Minor tournaments · World Rankings · Player of the Year · FIFA Ballon d'Or  · Teams · Debuts · Competitions · Federations · Codes
Asia
Africa
North, Central America and Caribbean
South America
CONMEBOL – Copa América
Oceania
Europe
Non-FIFA
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National football teams of Asia (AFC)

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† Provisional Associate Member - Not a member of FIFA
*FIFA and AFC use Hong Kong and Macau; the EAFF uses Hong Kong, China and Macau, China.
UAFA Football
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