World Cup Qualifying - Asia | Third Round

Nov 14, 2024 at 12am UK

Bahrainvs.China

Match preview

Since losing to Japan in the round of 16 at the Asian Cup in January, Bahrain have been on a roll in the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament. The team, which is hosting Thursday's match, has only lost once in eight games on its way to trying to get a spot in North America.

The Dilmun Warriors produced one of the most surprising performances and results of the third round back in September. Thanks to a strong defensive effort and a late own goal from Harry Souttar, the visitors from Australia secured a crucial three points, marking the end of Graham Arnold's tenure as coach of the Socceroos.

Bahrain also had a great result during the October international break. Dragan Talajic's team kept a clean sheet at the home of Saudi Arabia on 15 October. The 32-year-old goalkeeper Ebrahim Lutfalla saved a penalty from Al-Hilal star Salem Al-Dawsari, which was a crucial moment in the game.

We're approaching the middle point of the third round of qualification, and Bahrain are currently in fourth spot in a highly competitive Group C. The Dilmun Warriors are on par with Tony Popovic's Socceroos and Saudi Arabia in second and third respectively, with leaders Japan five points ahead of their section rivals.

Mohamed Marhoon, the Kuwait SC star, is close to 50 caps for his nation after scoring the opening and equalising goal in the dramatic four-goal thriller against Indonesia last month. He'll be hoping to add to his goal tally against China on Thursday, who are struggling in Group C.

China have only won twice in 11 games so far this year, and they're currently at risk of being cut adrift at the bottom of Group C. This is partly because they exited the Asian Cup in Qatar at the group stage, and also because their World Cup qualification campaign hasn't gone as well as they'd have liked.

On a more positive note, the Dragon Team secured their first major win in the third round of qualifying on 15 October. A two-man forward line of Bakram Abduweli and Yuning Zhang scored goals against Indonesia, helping the team to secure maximum points.

With Japan, who are still unbeaten in the group, coming to town later in the window, it's crucial that China get a good result on Thursday night. But the last time the team won an away match was nearly 12 months ago, when they played Thailand, who are pretty much minnows.

As we head into the final international window of the year, the Dragon Team are stuck at the bottom of Group C with just three points from four matches. Only North Korea and Palestine have collected fewer points across the sections so far.

Former Dinamo Zagreb and Iran head coach Branko Ivankovic took charge of the squad back in February following their lacklustre performance at the Asian Cup. He's now in charge of China, who have won just two of his opening eight competitive fixtures.

Recent Performance

Bahrain World Cup Qualifying - Asia form:

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China World Cup Qualifying - Asia form:

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Team News

Bahrain kept a clean sheet against Saudi Arabia in their last match, so it makes sense to stick with the same centre-back pairing of Waleed Al Hayam and Amine Benaddi in front of penalty-saving Lutfalla.

There might be a few changes in the attack for the Dilmun Warriors after they couldn't find the back of the net in Jeddah, so Kamil Al-Aswad might miss out on the starting XI.

Mahdi Al Humaidan has been with Bahrain since January 2019 and is ready for a start on Thursday night.

Both of them provided some great assists during the win over Indonesia, so defenders Zhunyi Gao and Shenglong Jiang will keep their spots in China's back four.

Shangyuan Wang and Yuanyi Li will be protecting the backline from the middle of the park and contributing plenty of know-how for the visitors.

Possible starting lineup

Bahrain possible starting lineup:

Lutfalla; Al-Shamsan, Benaddi, Al Hayam, El Khalassy; Madan, Haram, Saeed, Marhoon; Hasan, Al Humaidan

China possible starting lineup:

Wang; Gao, Browning, Jiang, Li; Xie, Wang, Li, Wei; Abduweli, Zhang