Bahrain national football team

Infobox National football team
Name = Bahrain
Badge = Bahrain_football_association.gif
FIFA Trigramme = BHR
FIFA Rank = 66
1st ranking date = August 1993
FIFA max = 44
FIFA max date = September 2004
FIFA min = 139
FIFA min date = March 2000
Elo Rank = T74
Nickname = Al-Ahmar (The Red)
Association = Bahrain Football Association
Confederation = AFC (Asia)
Coach = flagicon|CZE Milan Máčala
Most caps = Abdulrazzaq Mohamed (102)
Top scorer = A'ala Hubail (30)
Home Stadium = Bahrain National Stadium
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First game = )
Largest win = Flagicon|Bahrain Bahrain 5 - 0 Kyrgyzstan Flagicon|Kyrgyzstan (Bahrain; June 9, 2004)
Flagicon|Bahrain Bahrain 5 - 0 Turkmenistan Flagicon|Turkmenistan (Bahrain; 3 August, 2005)
Largest loss = Flagicon|Iraq|1963 Iraq 10 - 1 Bahrain )
World cup apps =
World cup first =
World cup best =
Regional name = AFC Asian Cup
Regional cup apps = 3
Regional cup first = 1988
Regional cup best = Fourth place, 2004The Bahraini national football team ( _ar. منتخب البحرين لكرة القدم) is the national team of the Kingdom of Bahrain and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association. They have never made the World Cup, but have improved greatly during the past few years. Bahrain won FIFA's most improved team award in 2004, and finished fourth in the 2004 Asian Cup. The international team was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966.

Bahrain finished fourth in the 2004 Asian Cup in a very surprising run, beating Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals but losing to Japan in the semi-finals in an exciting encounter which ended 4-3 to Japan, where Bahrain were leading several times. Bahrain then lost to Iran in the third place match, therefore finishing fourth place overall. After Uzbekistan and Bahrain both finished third in their groups during the World Cup 2006 qualifiers, October 12 2005, Bahrain entered a two-legged playoff with Uzbekistan, which they won due to away goals with an aggregate score of 1-1. This win 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, which was greeted with both anger and sadness by Bahraini fans.

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 although they lost 2-0, the team put in a strong performance, frustrating their experienced opponents and exposing weaknesses in the Australian defense. 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.

On January 6, 2007, Bahrain faced Inter Milan in a friendly match which they lost 6-1. Despite the result, the event was greeted with enthusiasm by the whole country.

Bahrain are currently participating in the World Cup 2010 qualifiers, having reached the final round. In the third round, Bahrain were drawn into group B along with Japan, Oman, and Thailand. Bahrain went on a great run, with wins against all three teams. Bahrain tied Oman 1-1 at home to qualify for the final round. Bahrain finished second overall in their group behind Japan. The final round fixtures will take place later this year.

World Cup record

AFC Qualification Records

Regional Tournaments

Gulf Cup of Nations

Gulf Cup of Nations record

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against Qatar on September 10 2008.

Recent Call Ups

References