Bahrain at the AFC Asian Cup

Since the AFC Asian Cup was founded, so far, Bahrain has qualified for eight Asian Cups, starting from 1988 and since 2004 to 2027. Bahrain, in spite of its small population, has achieved numerous impressive results, notably beating South Korea and Qatar 2–1 in 2007 and 2015, or a thrilling match with Japan in 2004 which Bahrain lost. However, in all six appearances, Bahrain's best result has been a fourth place finish, in 2004. Since then, Bahrain has made the knockout stage twice: in 2019 and in 2023.

Overall record

Asian Cup record
Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1956	Did not enter
1960
1964
1968
1972	Did not qualify
1976	Withdrew
1980	Withdrew after qualifying
1984	Withdrew
1988	Group stage	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	Group stage	3	1	0	2	3	7
2011	Group stage	3	1	0	2	6	5
2015	Group stage	3	1	0	2	3	5
2019	Round of 16	4	1	1	2	3	4
2023	Round of 16	4	2	0	2	4	6
2027	Qualified
Total	8/19	27	7	6	14	33	44

Head-to-head record

AFC Asian Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded	Last Win
Australia	1	0	0	1	0	1	DNW
China	2	0	1	1	2	3	DNW
India	2	2	0	0	6	2	2019
Indonesia	2	1	0	1	4	3	2004
Iran	2	0	0	2	2	6	DNW
Japan	2	0	0	2	4	7	DNW
Jordan	1	1	0	0	1	0	2023
Kuwait	1	0	1	0	0	0	DNW
Malaysia	1	1	0	0	1	0	2023
Qatar	2	1	1	0	3	2	2015
Saudi Arabia	2	0	1	1	1	5	DNW
South Korea	4	1	0	3	5	8	2007
Syria	1	0	0	1	0	1	DNW
Thailand	1	0	0	1	0	1	DNW
United Arab Emirates	2	0	1	1	2	3	DNW
Uzbekistan	1	0	1	0	2	2	DNW

Squads

^[1]

1988 Asian Cup in Qatar

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saudi Arabia	4	2	2	0	4	1	+3	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	China	4	2	1	1	6	3	+3	5	Advance to knockout stage
3	Syria	4	2	0	2	2	5	−3	4
4	Kuwait	4	0	3	1	2	3	−1	3
5	Bahrain	4	0	2	2	1	3	−2	2

Source: RSSSF

3 December 1988

17:00

Kuwait	0–0	Bahrain
	Report

Al-Ahly Stadium, Doha

Referee: Vincent Mauro (United States)

6 December 1988

17:00

Bahrain	0–1	China
	Report	Zhang Xiaowen 78'

Qatar SC Stadium, Doha

Referee: Syed Shahid Hakim (India)

9 December 1988

15:00

Saudi Arabia	1–1	Bahrain
Jazea'a 78'	Report	F. Mohamed 44' (pen.)

Qatar SC Stadium, Doha

Referee: Vincent Mauro (United States)

11 December 1988

15:00

Bahrain	0–1	Syria
	Report	Abu Al-Sel 72' (pen.)

Qatar SC Stadium, Doha

Referee: Michel Vautrot (France)

2004 Asian Cup in China

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	China (H)	3	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Bahrain	3	1	2	0	6	4	+2	5	Advance to knockout stage
3	Indonesia	3	1	0	2	3	9	−6	3
4	Qatar	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	1

Source: RSSSF
(H) Hosts

17 July 2004

20:00

China	2–2	Bahrain
Zheng Zhi 58' (pen.) Li Jinyu 66'	Report	M. Hubail 41' Ali 89'

Workers Stadium, Beijing

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)

21 July 2004

18:30

Bahrain	1–1	Qatar
M. Hubail 90+1'	Report	Rizik 59' (pen.)

Workers Stadium, Beijing

Attendance: 48,000

Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Japan)

25 July 2004

19:00

Bahrain	3–1	Indonesia
Ali 43' A. Hubail 57' Yousef 82'	Report	Aiboy 75'

Shandong Sports Center, Jinan

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Coffi Codjia (Benin)

Quarter-finals

30 July 2004

18:00

Uzbekistan	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Bahrain
Geynrikh 60' Shishelov 86'	Report	A. Hubail 71', 76'
Penalties
Fyodorov Djeperov Geynrikh Bikmoev Koshelev	3–4	Ali Juma Baba Farhan A. Hubail

Sichuan Longquanyi Stadium, Chengdu

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Kwon Jong-Chul (Korea Republic)

Semi-finals

3 August 2004

18:00

Bahrain	3–4 (a.e.t.)	Japan
A. Hubail 7', 71' Naser 85'	Report	Nakata 48' Tamada 55', 93' Nakazawa 90'

Shandong Sports Center, Jinan

Attendance: 32,000

Referee: Shamsul Maidin (Singapore)

Third place play-off

6 August 2004

20:00

Iran	4–2	Bahrain
Nekounam 9' Karimi 52' Daei 80' (pen.), 90'	Report	Yousef 48' Farhan 57'

Workers Stadium, Beijing

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Fareed Al-Marzouqi (United Arab Emirates)

2007 Asian Cup in Indonesia/Malaysia/Thailand/Vietnam

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saudi Arabia	3	2	1	0	7	2	+5	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	South Korea	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4	Advance to knockout stage
3	Indonesia (H)	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3
4	Bahrain	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4	3

Source: Asian Cup 2007
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

10 July 2007

17:15 UTC+7

Indonesia	2–1	Bahrain
Sudarsono 14' Bambang 64'	Report	Mahmood 27'

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta

Attendance: 60,000

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)

15 July 2007

19:30 UTC+7

Bahrain	2–1	South Korea
Isa 43' Abdul-Latif 85'	Report	Kim Do-Heon 4'

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta

Attendance: 9,000

Referee: Sun Baojie (China)

18 July 2007

17:15 UTC+7

Saudi Arabia	4–0	Bahrain
Al-Mousa 18' A. Al-Qahtani 45' Al-Jassim 68', 79'	Report

Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium, Palembang

Attendance: 500

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)

2011 Asian Cup in Qatar

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	South Korea	3	2	1	0	7	3	+4	7	Advance to knockout stage
3	Bahrain	3	1	0	2	6	5	+1	3
4	India	3	0	0	3	3	13	−10	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers


10 January 2011
South Korea	2–1	Bahrain
14 January 2011
Bahrain	5–2	India
18 January 2011
Australia	1–0	Bahrain

2015 Asian Cup in Australia

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	3	3	0	4	0	+4	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	United Arab Emirates	3	2	1	6	3	+3	6	Advance to knockout stage
3	Bahrain	3	1	2	3	5	−2	3
4	Qatar	3	0	3	2	7	−5	0

Source: Asian Cup Australia 2015
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers


11 January 2015
Iran	2–0	Bahrain	AAMI Park, Melbourne
15 January 2015
Bahrain	1–2	United Arab Emirates	Canberra Stadium, Canberra
19 January 2015
Qatar	1–2	Bahrain	Stadium Australia, Sydney

2019 Asian Cup in the UAE

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United Arab Emirates (H)	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2	5	Advance to knockout stage
2	Thailand	3	1	1	1	3	5	−2	4^[a]
3	Bahrain	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4^[a]
4	India	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3

Source: AFC
(H) Hosts
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head points: Thailand 3, Bahrain 0.

5 January 2019

20:00

United Arab Emirates	1–1	Bahrain
Khalil 88' (pen.)	Report	Al Romaihi 78'

Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 33,878

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

^[2]

10 January 2019

15:00

Bahrain	0–1	Thailand
	Report	Chanathip 58'

Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai

Attendance: 2,720

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

14 January 2019

20:00

India	0–1	Bahrain
	Report	Rashid 90+1' (pen.)

Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah

Attendance: 11,417

Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

^[3]

Round of 16

22 January 2019

17:00

South Korea	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Bahrain
Hwang Hee-chan 43' Kim Jin-su 105+2'	Report	Al Romaihi 77'

Rashid Stadium, Dubai

Attendance: 7,658

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

2023 Asian Cup in Qatar

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bahrain	3	2	0	1	3	3	0	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	South Korea	3	1	2	0	8	6	+2	5
3	Jordan	3	1	1	1	6	3	+3	4
4	Malaysia	3	0	1	2	3	8	−5	1

Source: AFC

15 January 2024

14:30

South Korea	3–1	Bahrain
Hwang In-beom 38' Lee Kang-in 56', 68'	Report	Al-Hashash 51'

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 8,388

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

20 January 2024

17:30

Bahrain	1–0	Malaysia
Madan 90+5'	Report

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 10,386

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

25 January 2024

14:30

Jordan	0–1	Bahrain
	Report	Helal 34'

Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 39,650

Referee: Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)

Knockout stage

Round of 16

31 January 2024

14:30

Bahrain	1–3	Japan
Ueda 64' (o.g.)	Report	Dōan 31' Kubo 49' Ueda 72'

Al Thumama Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 31,832

Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)

References

^ "Bahrain Squad for 2019 Asian cup (23 Final Player List]". Retrieved 2018-12-29.
^ "UAE to face Bahrain in 2019 Asian Cup opener". gulftoday.ae. Gulf today. 5 May 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
^ "AFC Asian Cup 2019: Rating India's chances against UAE, Bahrain and Thailand in Group A". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

[table_hth_THA0.62170269881454-2] Head-to-head points: Thailand 3, Bahrain 0.

[1] "Bahrain Squad for 2019 Asian cup (23 Final Player List]". Retrieved 2018-12-29.

[3] "UAE to face Bahrain in 2019 Asian Cup opener". gulftoday.ae. Gulf today. 5 May 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

[4] "AFC Asian Cup 2019: Rating India's chances against UAE, Bahrain and Thailand in Group A". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

[1]

[a]

[2]

[3]

v t e Bahrain national football team
General	Bahrain Football Association History Managers
Venues	Bahrain National Stadium
Statistics	Results 2020–present
Players	International footballers
Asian Cup Finals	Summary 1988 2004 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 2027
Other tournaments	Olympic Games Asian Games Arabian Gulf Cup WAFF Championship
Notable matches	1985 Arab Cup final 2002 Arab Cup final 2006 World Cup fourth round qualifier 2006 World Cup CONCACAF–AFC play-off 2010 World Cup fifth round qualifier 2010 World Cup AFC–OFC play-off Bahrain 10–0 Indonesia (2012)
Noted rivalries	Qatar Saudi Arabia
Other teams	Men U-23 U-20 U-17 Women Futsal Beach

v t e Countries at the AFC Asian Cup
Team appearances
AFF	Australia Cambodia Indonesia Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam¹
CAFA	Iran Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
EAFF	China Chinese Taipei Hong Kong Japan North Korea South Korea
SAFF	Bangladesh India
WAFF	Bahrain Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen
Former	Israel² South Yemen³
¹ Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under other name(s). ² Israel was a member of the AFC until 1974. ³ Recognized by FIFA as defunct.