Bahrain national football team

The Bahrain national football team (Arabic: منتخب الْبَحرَيْن لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم) represents Bahrain in international football and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association, which was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966. They have never reached 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. Bahrain had a golden year in 2019, winning both the WAFF Championship and the Arabian Gulf Cup for the first time, under the stewardship of Hélio Sousa.

Bahrain

Nickname(s)

مُحَارِبِيّ دِيْلمُون (Muharabi Dilmun, Dilmun's Warriors)
غَوَاصِيْنُ الْلُؤْلُؤْ (Ghawaseen Al-Lulu, The Pearl Divers)
الأَحمَر (The Reds)

Association

Bahrain Football Association

Confederation

AFC (Asia)

Sub-confederation

WAFF (West Asia)

Head coach

Hélio Sousa

Captain

Sayed Mohammed Jaffer

Most caps

Mohamed Husain (161)^[1]

Top scorer

Ismail Abdullatif (47)^[1]

Home stadium

Bahrain National Stadium

FIFA code

BHR

First colours

Second colours

FIFA ranking

Current

85 (6 April 2023)^[2]

Highest

44 (September 2004)

Lowest

139 (March 2000)

First international

Bahrain 4–4 Kuwait
(Baghdad, Iraq; 2 April 1966)

Biggest win

Bahrain 10–0 Indonesia
(Riffa, Bahrain; 29 February 2012)

Biggest defeat

Iraq 10–1 Bahrain
(Baghdad, Iraq; 5 April 1966)

Asian Cup

Appearances

7 (first in 1988)

Best result

Fourth place (2004)

Arab Cup

Appearances

6 (first in 1966)

Best result

Runners-up (1985, 2002)

WAFF Championship

Appearances

4 (first in 2010)

Best result

Champions (2019)

Arabian Gulf Cup

Appearances

24 (first in 1970)

Best result

Champions (2019)

History

The 1959 national football team

Early time

Even though the first national team was founded in 1959, Bahraini team was only first officially assembled in 1966 where they played a friendly game against Kuwait, where they drew 4–4. At that time, despite being under British rule, Bahrain was given autonomy and they had utilized this opportunity to expand its football development. Nonetheless, Bahrain was regarded as a weaker side in the Gulf Arab region, which constituted the stronger Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Kuwait. For this reason, Bahrain's international feat had been mostly limited in the Arabian Gulf Cup.

In 1988, Bahrain qualified to its first ever AFC Asian Cup, but finished bottom with only two draws in the 1988 AFC Asian Cup. Since then, Bahraini side remained neglected and less invested, despite its youth successes at the U-17 and U-20. Only by the end of the 20th century, Bahrain began to really emerge and would change the country's football history.

Rise

Bahrain managed a fine performance during 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification and 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, the latter was the first time Bahrain reached the final round. Despite being unable to reach either of them, Bahrain managed one of their greatest football feats, by beating Iran in both qualifications 1–0 in Damascus in 2000 Asian Cup run, and 3–1 at home in 2002 World Cup run, which remains one of the most embarrassing defeats for Iranian football. This win, though mean less for Bahrain, did manage to pull Iran out from reaching a direct World Cup ticket and helped Saudi Arabia to qualify for 2002 FIFA World Cup, Iran later failed to qualify; Bahraini fans had waged Saudi flag as a response of this win, fueling tensions between Bahrain and Iran.^[4]

2004 Asian Cup

The form of Bahrain in 2004 AFC Asian Cup was a complete stunning for many. In their just second appearance, Bahrain was drawn with mighty host China, neighbor Qatar and Southeast Asia's finest Indonesia. However, Bahrain went on undefeated at the group stage, including a famous 2–2 draw to China in Beijing, 1–1 to Qatar before trashed Indonesia 3–1 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. Then, Bahrain overcame Uzbekistan on penalty shootout in the quarter-finals, having been held 2–2. Bahrain put up another astonishing performance against defending champions Japan, only lost 3–4 after extra time, before losing 2–4 to Iran in the third place game. This tournament would mark the rise of Bahrain as a serious competitor for football in Asia.

2006 World Cup

After Uzbekistan and Bahrain both finished third in their respective groups during the 2006 World Cup 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 as debutant.

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Fourth Round play-offs
Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Uzbekistan	1–1 (a)	Bahrain	1–1	0–0
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC – CONCACAF play-off) play-offs
Bahrain	1–2	Trinidad and Tobago	1–1	0–1

2007 Asian Cup

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 2007 Asian Cup after defeating Kuwait in their last match. Bahrain were knocked out in the group stage via two losses against Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, despite a shock win against Korea Republic.

2010 World Cup

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

In the third round of the 2010 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 to 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 a victory would qualify them for the World Cup, but after a goalless draw in Manama on 10 October 2009, Bahrain lost the return leg 1–0 in Wellington on 14 November 2009, missing out on qualification at the last hurdle for the second time running.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Fifth Round play-offs
Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bahrain	(a) 2–2	Saudi Arabia	0–0	2–2
AFC 5th place v OFC winner play-offs
Bahrain	0–1	New Zealand	0–0	0–1

Crisis period

2011 Asian Cup

Bahrain qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup held in neighbouring Qatar, and was drawn in a tough group composing Australia, South Korea and India. Bahrain faced its first task to overcome South Korea, with the hope to repeat the surprise 2–1 victory of the 2007 edition, but South Korea turned the deficit to beat Bahrain with the same score. After the loss, Bahrain cruised past India in a seven-goal party, Bahrain scored five to keep its hope alive; but its campaign ended in vain when they lost to Australia 0–1 and was dismissed from the group stages.

2014 World Cup

In the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Bahrain did considerably worse. In the third round, they were drawn against Indonesia, Iran and Qatar. Although they managed to defeat Indonesia both home and away, they also lost 6–0 by Iran away from home, and drew their other 3 games. Although they had a higher goal difference than Qatar, they needed an extra point to advance to the next round, or Qatar had to be beaten by Iran in the final round. If they had also drawn to Iran away from home, they would have advanced. But neither luck came to them, and their campaign ended in the third round, their worst result since the 1998 World Cup qualifiers.

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Iran	6	3	3	0	17	5	+12	12	—	2–2	6–0	3–0
Qatar	6	2	4	0	10	5	+5	10	1–1	—	0–0	4–0
Bahrain	6	2	3	1	13	7	+6	9	1–1	0–0	—	10–0
Indonesia	6	0	0	6	3	26	−23	0	1–4	2–3	0–2	—

Source:^{[citation needed]}

2015 Asian Cup

The 2015 AFC Asian Cup once again became a disappointment for the Bahrainis, even though their group was easier, with only Iran being the biggest opponent while the UAE and Qatar were no strangers. Bahrain lost two opening games against Iran and the UAE 0–2 and 1–2, the latter defeat was subject to the earliest goal in Asian Cup history by Ali Mabkhout. Bahrain salvaged some pride with a 2–1 win over Qatar, condemning its neighbour to bottom of the group while Bahrain finished third for the second consecutive Asian Cup.

2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifications

In the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers second round, Bahrain finished fourth in a group with Uzbekistan, North Korea, Philippines and Yemen. The poor performance of the Bahraini side caused huge public uproar over the team's ongoing decline, rocked the chair of manager Sergio Batista. He was eventually sacked and replaced by Czech youth coach Miroslav Soukup, who decided to revamp the team.

Later on, Bahrain participated in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification, where finished first in the third round in a group with Turkmenistan, Chinese Taipei and Singapore, to qualify to the next AFC Asian Cup. However, the team's performance was far from perfect. The team suffered a home draw to minnows Singapore, before getting humiliated by Chinese Taipei away 1–2 that was considered as a shock, since Taiwan is not a football nation. This defeat also prompted Bahrain's main star, Ismail Abdullatif, to retire from the team.

Bahrain managed some promising performance during this deteriorating era, reaching semi-finals of the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup held in Kuwait.

Short-lived glory

2019: Asian Cup; WAFF Championship and Gulf Cup champions

At the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Bahrain was grouped with India, Thailand and hosts United Arab Emirates. The Bahrainis managed a promising early performance when they faced the hosts, scored a goal lead in 78', but was eventually held 1–1 following an unclear penalty decision by the Jordanian referee Adham Makhadmeh. However, Bahrain suffered a blasting loss to Thailand 0–1, leaving the team flounder despite its earlier performance. In the final match against India, which the Indians only required a draw to progress, Bahrain however managed to get a needed penalty in injury time, where Jamal Rashid turned hero as Bahrain won the fixture 1–0 to seal the team into the knockout stage for the only second times ever, and eliminated the Indians from the competition. The Bahraini side then played its own round of sixteen match, where they lost 2–1 to South Korea after extra time. This was considered as a major success for Bahraini football, and also to be the end of the country's football misfortune that endured since 2010s.

Afterwards, Bahrain managed to win two competitions for the first time, after defeating both Iraq and Saudi Arabia, 1–0 under the leadership of Hélio Sousa against all odds, in the WAFF Championship and Gulf Cup respectively.^[5]^[6]

2022 World Cup

Bahrain defeated Iran 1–0 in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualification Round 2, delivering a major upset in the qualifying process, and with Bahrain enjoying huge edge in the qualifiers, Bahrain was expected to reach the third round. However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, Bahrain's great progression in 2019 was reversed when it lost significant home supports (despite being designated as hosts for the remaining games) due to pandemic, as fans were barred from attending, Iran having replaced manager as well, combining the Bahrain's domestic league under frequent disruption due to the pandemic, all left Bahraini players little time to organise their team. Bahrain triumphed against Cambodia 8–0 in their first game since the pandemic began, but against an Iranian side that was entirely revamped, a Bahraini side without home support was completely demoralised, losing 0–3 in process. This defeat proved to be disastrous for Bahrain, as their 4–0 victory over Hong Kong was too little, too late, due to Iran prevailing 1–0 over Iraq in the final game.^[7]

Team image

Rivalries

Qatar

Bahrain has a major rivalry against Qatar due to historical tension between the two countries. Through 39 matches played between the teams, Bahrain has an overall positive performance against Qatar, winning eleven matches, lost eight matches while nineteen matches ended in a draw.

Kit providers

Manufacturer	Period
Umbro	1981
Puma	1982
Grand Sport	1983–1986
Faisok	1986
Grand Sport	1987–1996
Puma	1997
Baraka	1998–1999
Kika	2000–2002
Shoot	2002–2003
Diadora	2003–2005
Puma	2005–2014
Romai^[8]^[9]	2014–2018
Macron^[10]	2019–2022
Puma	2023–

Results and fixtures

Matches in the last 12 months, and future scheduled matches Win Draw Loss

2022

27 May Friendly	Myanmar	0–2	Bahrain	Pathum Thani, Thailand
19:00 UTC+7		Report	Mahdi 89' (pen.) Al-Humaidan 90+1'	Stadium: BG Football Training Camp

31 May Friendly	Thailand	1–2	Bahrain	Pathum Thani, Thailand
19:00 UTC+7	Dangda 4' (pen.)	Report	Al-Khatal 45+1' Isa 90+1'	Stadium: BG Stadium

8 June 2023 Asian Cup qualification	Bahrain	2–0	Bangladesh	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
17:15 UTC+8	Haram 34' Al-Aswad 42'	Report		Stadium: Bukit Jalil National Stadium Attendance: 826 Referee: Tejas Nagvenkar (India)

11 June 2023 Asian Cup qualification	Malaysia	1–2	Bahrain	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
21:00 UTC+8	Sumareh 55'	Report	Haram 57' Helal 81' (pen.)	Stadium: Bukit Jalil National Stadium Attendance: 63,925 Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)

14 June 2023 Asian Cup qualification	Bahrain	1–0	Turkmenistan	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
17:15 UTC+8	Helal 23' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Bukit Jalil National Stadium Attendance: 2,970 Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

23 September Friendly	Bahrain	1–2	Cape Verde	Riffa, Bahrain
19:00 UTC+3	Haram 29' (pen.)	Report	Al-Romaihi 12' (o.g.) Mendes 55'	Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium

27 September Friendly	Bahrain	0–2	Panama	Riffa, Bahrain
19:00 UTC+3		Report	Murillo 18' Díaz 46'	Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium Referee: Khalid Saleh (Saudi Arabia)

11 November Friendly	Bahrain	2–2	Canada	Isa Town, Bahrain
15:30 UTC+3	Al-Humaidan 13' Helal 65' (pen.)	Report	Koné 6' Haram 81' (o.g.)	Stadium: Khalifa Sports City Stadium Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Abdullah Jamali (Kuwait)

18 November Friendly	Bahrain	1–5	Serbia	Arad, Bahrain
	Yusuf Helal 15' (pen.)	Report	Tadić 8', 50' Vlahović 51' Đuričić 87' Jović 89'	Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium

2023

7 January 25th Arabian Gulf Cup	Bahrain	2–1	United Arab Emirates	Basra, Iraq
16:15 UTC+3	Al-Aswad 60' Al-Shaikh 77'	Report	Tagliabúe 90+2'	Stadium: Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

10 January 25th Arabian Gulf Cup	Qatar	1–2	Bahrain	Basra, Iraq
19:15 UTC+3	Alaaedin 34'	Report	Waad 72' (o.g.) Helal 89' (pen.)	Stadium: Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

13 January 25th Arabian Gulf Cup	Bahrain	1–1	Kuwait	Basra, Iraq
18:00 UTC+3	Abdullatif 26'	Report	Al-Khaldi 45'	Stadium: Basra International Stadium Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

16 January Gulf Cup SF	Bahrain	0–1	Oman	Basra, Iraq
20:15 UTC+3		Report	Al-Yahmadi 83'	Stadium: Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium Referee: Adel Al-Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)

25 March Friendly	Bahrain	1–2	Palestine	Arad, Bahrain
21:30 UTC+3	Saeed 80'	Report	Termanini 51' Batran 61'	Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium Referee: Mohammad Ghabayen (Jordan)

28 March Friendly	Bahrain	1–0	Syria	Arad, Bahrain
21:30 UTC+4	Al-Khalasi 43'	Report		Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium

Current staff

Role	Name
Head coach	Hélio Sousa
Assistant coach	Jose Carniero
Assistant coach	Ahmed Isa
Goalkeeper coach	Pedro Roma
Fitness coach	Jose Herculano
Assistant coach & analyst	Ahmed Kamal

Coaching history

As of March 2019^[11]

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

Jassim Al-Maawada and
Abdul-Salam Alam (1966)
Hamada El-Sharqawi (1970–1974)
Danny McLennan (1974–1975)
Adnan Ayoub and
Khalifa AlHamdan (1975)
Jack Mansell (1976)
Mal Thompson and Michael Gorman (1979)
Ljubiša Broćić (1979–1981)
Farouq Ahmed Ali (1981)
Sebastião Pereira de Araújo (1982–1984, 1992–1993)
Keith Burkinshaw (1984–1986)
Robbie Stepney (1986–1987)
Abdelmajid Chetali (1988)
Mohamed Al-Arabi Al-Zouaui (1988)
Uli Maslo (1990–1992)
Adnan Ayoub (1992)
Ivan Katalinić (1994)
Victor Stănculescu (1995–1996)
Fuad Boshqar (1996)
Josef Hickersberger (1997)
Ernesto Rosa Guedes (1998)
Alexandru Moldovan (1999)
Salman Sharida (2000)
Wolfgang Sidka (2001–2002, 2005)
Yves Herbet (2003)
Srećko Juričić (2003–2005)
Luka Peruzović (2005–2006)
Riyadh Al-Thawadi (2006)
Hans-Peter Briegel (2006–2007)
Senad Kreso (2007)
Milan Máčala (2008–2010)
Josef Hickersberger (2010)
Marjan Eid (2010)
Salman Sharida (2010–2011)
Peter Taylor (2011–2012)
Gabriel Calderón (2012–2013)
Anthony Hudson (2013–2014)
Adnan Hamad (2014)
Marjan Eid (2014–2015)
Sergio Batista (2015–2016)
Miroslav Soukup (2016–2019)
Hélio Sousa (2019–present)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendlies against Palestine and Syria on 25 and 28 March 2023.^[12]

Caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2023, after the match against Syria

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Sayed Mohammed Jaffer (captain)	(1985-08-25) 25 August 1985 (age 37)	149	0	Al-Muharraq
1GK	Ibrahim Lutfalla	(1992-09-24) 24 September 1992 (age 30)	8	0	Al-Ahli
1GK	Ammar Ahmed	(1999-02-10) 10 February 1999 (age 24)	3	0	Manama Club
1GK	Omar Salem	(1995-05-26) 26 May 1995 (age 27)	1	0	Budaiya

2DF	Waleed Al Hayam	(1991-02-03) 3 February 1991 (age 32)	99	0	Al-Muharraq
2DF	Sayed Redha Isa	(1994-08-07) 7 August 1994 (age 28)	62	3	Al-Riffa
2DF	Ahmed Bughammar	(1997-12-30) 30 December 1997 (age 25)	25	1	Al-Khaldiya
2DF	Mohamed Adel	(1996-09-20) 20 September 1996 (age 26)	23	0	Al-Khaldiya
2DF	Amine Bennadi	(1993-05-09) 9 May 1993 (age 30)	15	0	Al-Muharraq
2DF	Ahmed Nabeel	(1995-08-25) 25 August 1995 (age 27)	10	0	Manama Club
2DF	Abdullah Al-Khalasi	(2003-09-02) 2 September 2003 (age 19)	2	1	Al-Muharraq

3MF	Jasim Al-Shaikh	(1996-02-01) 1 February 1996 (age 27)	56	4	Al-Riffa
3MF	Mohamed Marhoon	(1998-02-12) 12 February 1998 (age 25)	49	12	Al-Riffa
3MF	Ali Haram	(1988-12-11) 11 December 1988 (age 34)	47	5	Al-Riffa
3MF	Mohamed Al-Hardan	(1997-10-06) 6 October 1997 (age 25)	23	2	Al-Muharraq
3MF	Mahdi Abdullatif	(1993-02-15) 15 February 1993 (age 30)	12	0	Manama Club
3MF	Abbas Al-Asfoor	(1999-02-02) 2 February 1999 (age 24)	11	0	Al-Ahli
3MF	Ibrahim Al-Khatal	(2000-09-19) 19 September 2000 (age 22)	11	2	Manama Club
3MF	Hamza Al-Juban	(2000-04-17) 17 April 2000 (age 23)	2	0	Al-Muharraq
3MF	Husain Al-Qassab		1	0	Al-Shabab

4FW	Sayed Dhiya Saeed	(1992-07-17) 17 July 1992 (age 30)	112	8	Al-Khaldiya
4FW	Kamil Al-Aswad	(1994-04-08) 8 April 1994 (age 29)	90	12	Al-Riffa
4FW	Ali Madan	(1995-11-30) 30 November 1995 (age 27)	74	11	Ajman Club
4FW	Mahdi Al-Humaidan	(1993-05-19) 19 May 1993 (age 29)	46	5	Al-Khaldiya
4FW	Mahdi Abduljabbar	(1991-06-25) 25 June 1991 (age 31)	30	9	Manama

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Abdulkarim Fardan	(1992-04-25) 25 April 1992 (age 31)	1	0	Al-Riffa	25th Arabian Gulf Cup
GK	Ebrahim Lutfalla	(1992-09-24) 24 September 1992 (age 30)	4	0	Al-Ahli	25th Arabian Gulf Cup
GK	Sayed Shubbar Alawi	(1985-08-11) 11 August 1985 (age 37)	26	0	Al-Riffa	v. Turkmenistan, 14 June 2022

DF	Hamza Abdullah Idris	(1999-06-23) 23 June 1999 (age 23)	0	0	East Riffa	25th Arabian Gulf Cup
DF	Hamad Al-Shamsan	(1997-09-29) 29 September 1997 (age 25)	15	0	Al-Riffa	25th Arabian Gulf Cup
DF	Rashed Al-Hooti	(1989-12-24) 24 December 1989 (age 33)	81	0	Al-Muharraq	v. Serbia, 18 November 2022
DF	Talal Al-Shurouqi	(1996-05-01) 1 May 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Hidd SCC	v. Serbia, 18 November 2022
DF	Ahmed Abdulla Ali	(1987-04-01) 1 April 1987 (age 36)	31	0	Al-Khaldiya	v. Turkmenistan, 14 June 2022
DF	Abbas Ayyad	(1987-05-11) 11 May 1987 (age 35)	25	0	Al-Ahli	v. Turkmenistan, 14 June 2022
DF	Abdulla Al-Haza'a	(1990-07-19) 19 July 1990 (age 32)	60	1	Al-Tadamon	v. Thailand, 31 May 2022

MF	Abdulwahab Al-Malood	(1990-06-07) 7 June 1990 (age 32)	59	5	Al-Muharraq	25th Arabian Gulf Cup
MF	Ammar Mirza		2	0	Al Ittihad	v. Turkmenistan, 14 June 2022
MF	Mohamed Abdulwahab	(1989-11-13) 13 November 1989 (age 33)	15	0	Al-Hidd	v. Thailand, 31 May 2022

FW	Abdulla Yusuf Helal	(1993-06-12) 12 June 1993 (age 29)	59	5	Persija Jakarta	25th Arabian Gulf Cup
FW	Ahmed Al-Sherooqi	(2000-05-22) 22 May 2000 (age 22)	0	0	Al-Muharraq	25th Arabian Gulf Cup
FW	Hashim Sayed Isa	(1998-04-03) 3 April 1998 (age 25)	15	6	Al-Riffa	v. Serbia, 18 November 2022
^INJ Withdrew due to injury ^PRE Preliminary squad / standby ^RET Retired from the national team ^SUS Serving suspension ^WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Records

As of 16 January 2023^[13]

Players in bold are still active with Bahrain.

Most appearances

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Mohamed Husain	161	10	1997–2015
2	Salman Isa	160	24	2000–2012
3	Sayed Mohammed Jaffer	159	0	2004–present
4	Mohamed Salmeen	146	10	2000–2013
5	Ismail Abdullatif	131	46	2005–present
6	Sayed Mahmood Jalal	125	6	1998–2010
7	Hussain Ali Baba	124	8	2001–2016
8	Talal Yousef	118	28	2001–2016
9	Husain Ali	116	33	1998–2013
10	Sayed Dhiya Saeed	113	7	2011–present
10	Abdulla Al-Marzooqi	113	10	2001–2013

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Ismail Abdullatif	46	131	0.35	2005–present
2	Husain Ali	33	116	0.28	1998–2013
3	Talal Yousef	28	118	0.24	1998–2009
4	A'ala Hubail	26	88	0.3	2003–2009
5	Salman Isa	24	160	0.15	2001–2012
6	Faouzi Aaish	20	104	0.19	2004–2016
7	Mohamed Al-Romaihi	16	46	0.35	2010–present
8	Mahmood Abdulrahman	13	91	0.14	2006–2014
9	Mohamed Marhoon	12	49	0.24	2018–present
9	Kamil Al-Aswad	12	89	0.13	2015–present

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record									FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Position	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Part of United Kingdom								Part of United Kingdom
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970	Did not enter								Did not enter
1974	Did not enter								Did not enter
1978	Did not qualify								4	1	0	3	4	6
1982									4	1	0	3	1	6
1986									4	1	2	1	8	6
1990	Withdrew								Withdrew
1994	Did not qualify								8	3	3	2	9	6
1998									4	1	0	3	3	9
2002									14	7	4	3	17	13
2006									16	5	6	5	21	14
2010									20	7	7	6	19	17
2014									6	2	3	1	13	7
2018									6	2	0	4	7	9
2022									8	4	3	1	15	4
2026	TBD								TBD
Total	−	0/22	−	−	−	−	−	−	94	34	28	32	117	97

AFC Asian Cup

AFC Asian Cup record									AFC Asian Cup qualification record
Year	Result	Position	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1956	Part of United Kingdom								Part of United Kingdom
1960
1964
1968	Did not enter								Did not enter
1972	Did not qualify								4	2	0	2	8	4
1976	Withdrew								Withdrew
1980	Withdrew after qualifying								3	0	0	3	0	5
1984	Withdrew								Withdrew
1988	Group stage	9th	4	0	2	2	1	3	3	2	1	0	4	0
1992	Did not qualify								2	0	0	2	1	5
1996	Withdrew								Withdrew
2000	Did not qualify								6	3	0	3	6	6
2004	Fourth place	4th	6	1	3	2	13	14	6	4	1	1	14	9
2007	Group stage	13th	3	1	0	2	3	7	4	1	1	2	3	6
2011	Group stage	11th	3	1	0	2	6	5	6	4	0	2	12	6
2015	Group stage	12th	3	1	0	2	3	5	6	4	2	0	7	1
2019	Round of 16	14th	4	1	1	2	3	4	14	7	1	6	25	13
2023	Qualified								11	7	3	1	15	4
2027	To be determined								To be determined
Total	Fourth place	6/17	23	5	6	12	29	38	62	31	9	22	95	59

Gulf Cup

Gulf Cup record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1970	Runners-up	3	1	1	1	3	4
1972	Record annulled
1974	Group stage	2	0	0	2	1	8
1976	Fourth place	6	3	0	3	9	15
1979	Fourth place	6	2	2	2	8	9
1982	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	10	7
1984	Fifth place	6	1	2	3	3	6
1986	Fifth place	6	1	4	1	4	5
1988	Fourth place	6	3	0	3	4	4
1990	Third place	4	1	2	1	1	1
1992	Runners-up	5	3	0	2	6	4
1994	Third place	5	1	3	1	5	6
1996	Fifth place	5	0	2	3	4	8
1998	Fifth place	5	0	3	2	3	6
2002	Fourth place	5	1	2	2	4	6
2003	Runners-up	6	4	1	1	13	3
2004	Third place	5	2	2	1	10	6
2007	Semi-finals	4	1	1	2	4	5
2009	Group stage	3	1	0	2	3	4
2010	Group stage	3	0	1	2	4	7
2013	Fourth place	5	1	1	3	4	9
2014	Group stage	3	0	2	1	0	3
2017	Semi-finals	4	1	2	1	3	3
2019	Champions	5	2	2	1	7	6
2023	Semi-finals	4	2	1	1	5	4
Total	25/25	111	34	35	42	118	139

FIFA Arab Cup

FIFA Arab Cup record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1963	Did not enter
1964	Did not enter
1966	Group stage	4	0	1	3	7	22
1985	Runners-up	4	1	2	1	4	3
1988	Group stage	4	0	3	1	2	3
1992	Did not enter
1998	Withdrew
2002	Runners-up	6	3	1	2	8	5
2012	Group stage	3	0	0	3	1	8
2021	Group stage	3	0	1	2	0	4
Total	Best: Runners-up	24	4	8	12	22	45

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Year	Result	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1951-1970	Did not enter
1974	15th place	3	0	0	3	1	15
1978	14th place	3	0	0	3	1	12
1982	Did not enter
1986	12th place	3	1	1	1	4	5
1990	Did not enter
1994	10th place	4	1	2	1	6	5
1998	Did not enter
2002–present	See Bahrain national under-23 football team
Total	4/13	14	3	3	8	12	37

Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games record
Year	Result	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1953	Did not enter
1957
1961
1965
1976
1985
1997
1999	First round	2	0	0	2	0	6
2007	Did not enter
2011	Champions	4	3	1	0	9	3
Total	2/10	6	3	1	2	9	9

WAFF Championship record

WAFF Championship record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
2000	Did not participate
2002
2004
2007
2008
2010	Group stage	2	1	0	1	2	3	–1
2012	Fourth place	5	2	2	1	3	2	+1
2014	Third place	4	0	3	1	0	1	–1
2019	Champions	4	3	1	0	3	0	+3
Total	4/9	15	6	6	3	8	6	+2

Head-to-head record

As of 18 November 2022 after match against Serbia.

Positive Record Neutral Record Negative Record

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goal scored	Goal against	% Won^[a]
Albania	2	2	0	0	6	0	100%
Algeria	2	0	2	0	0	0	50%
Australia	5	0	0	5	1	9	0%
Azerbaijan	3	0	0	3	3	8	0%
Bangladesh	2	2	0	0	4	0	100%
Belarus	1	0	0	1	0	1	0%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	0	0	1	0	1	0%
Brazil	1	0	0	1	0	2	0%
Brunei	1	1	0	0	7	0	100%
Burkina Faso	2	2	0	0	5	2	100%
Burundi	1	1	0	0	1	0	100%
Cambodia	2	2	0	0	9	0	100%
Canada	1	0	1	0	2	2	50%
Cape Verde	1	0	0	1	1	2	0%
Chad	1	0	1	0	1	1	50%
Chile	1	0	0	1	0	2	0%
China	8	0	5	3	9	15	31.25%
Chinese Taipei	3	2	0	1	7	2	66.67%
Colombia	1	0	0	1	0	6	0%
Congo	1	1	0	0	3	1	100%
Curaçao	1	1	0	0	4	0	100%
Denmark	2	1	0	1	2	2	50%
DR Congo	1	1	0	0	1	0	100%
Egypt	1	0	0	1	0	1	0%
Finland	5	0	1	4	1	9	10%
Haiti	1	1	0	0	6	1	100%
Hong Kong	7	5	1	1	17	3	78.57%
Iceland	2	1	0	1	2	3	50%
India	7	6	1	0	16	4	92.86%
Indonesia	7	3	2	2	19	7	57.14%
Iran	19	5	4	8	13	32	36.84%
Iraq	31	5	13	13	26	50	38.33%
Japan	12	2	1	9	10	23	20.83%
Jordan	30	10	6	14	25	35	43.33%
Kazakhstan	2	0	0	2	0	3	0%
Kenya	2	2	0	0	4	2	100%
Kuwait	42	14	10	18	39	55	45.24%
Kyrgyzstan	7	5	1	1	15	7	78.57%
Lebanon	15	7	6	2	23	18	66.67%
Libya	5	2	1	2	9	8	50%
Malaysia	14	8	5	2	33	17	80.77%
Maldives	2	2	0	0	5	1	100%
Mauritania	1	1	0	0	1	0	100%
Morocco	2	0	0	2	0	5	0%
Myanmar	5	4	0	1	13	6	80%
Netherlands	1	0	0	1	1	8	0%
New Zealand	5	0	1	4	1	6	10%
North Korea	7	2	1	4	10	10	35.71%
North Macedonia	1	0	1	0	1	1	50%
Norway	1	0	0	1	0	1	0%
Oman	39	12	17	10	37	32	52.56%
Pakistan	1	0	0	1	1	5	0%
Palestine	8	4	1	3	11	6	56.25%
Panama	2	1	0	1	5	2	50%
Paraguay	1	0	0	1	1	2	0%
Philippines	6	3	2	1	9	5	66.67%
Qatar	39	10	12	9	28	33	41.03%
Saudi Arabia	37	7	11	19	26	55	33.78%
Serbia	1	0	0	1	1	5	0%
Singapore	10	8	1	1	18	6	85%
Slovakia	1	1	0	0	2	0	100%
South Korea	24	3	5	16	20	55	22.92%
Sri Lanka	1	1	0	0	1	0	100%
Sudan	3	2	0	1	4	3	66.67%
Sweden	2	0	0	2	0	5	0%
Syria	22	5	7	10	23	25	38.64%
Tajikistan	5	3	2	0	16	1	80%
Thailand	11	3	6	2	14	12	54.55%
Togo	1	1	0	0	5	1	100%
Trinidad and Tobago	2	0	1	1	1	2	25%
Tunisia	2	1	0	1	1	3	50%
Turkmenistan	5	4	1	0	14	4	90%
Uganda	2	1	1	0	3	1	75%
Ukraine	1	0	1	0	1	1	50%
United Arab Emirates	29	11	5	13	43	49	46.55%
Uzbekistan	12	3	4	5	8	20	41.67%
Vietnam	1	0	0	1	3	5	0%
Yemen	15	12	1	2	31	8	83.33%
Zimbabwe	1	1	0	0	5	2	100%