2023–24 in Bahraini football

Football in Bahrain
Season	2023–24
Men's football
Premier League	Al-Khaldiya
Second Division	Bahrain SC
King's Cup	Al-Ahli
FA Cup	Manama
Super Cup	Al-Khaldiya

The 2023–24 season was the 68th competitive association football season in Bahrain.

National teams

Bahrain national football team

Friendlies

7 September 2023	Bahrain	1–3	Kuwait	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
19:00 UTC+4	Helal 72'	Report	Al-Dhefiri 5' Al-Khaldi 56', 62'	Stadium: Police Officers' Club Stadium

12 September 2023	Bahrain	1–1	Turkmenistan	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
20:00 UTC+4	Marhoon 13'	Report	Çaryýew 29'	Stadium: Police Officers' Club Stadium

12 October 2023	Bahrain	2–0	Kyrgyzstan	Arad, Bahrain
20:00 UTC+4	Abdulwahab 59' Al-Hashash 85'	Report		Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium

16 October 2023	Bahrain	1–0	Philippines	Arad, Bahrain
19:00 UTC+3	Al-Khattal	Report		Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium

6 January 2024	Bahrain	0–2	Australia	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
17:00 UTC+3		Report	Benaddi 35' (o.g.) Duke 61'	Stadium: Baniyas Stadium Referee: Mohamed Al-Harmoodi (United Arab Emirates)

FIFA World Cup & AFC Asian Cup qualification

Second round – Group H

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United Arab Emirates	6	5	1	0	16	2	+14	16	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	—	1–1	2–1	4–0
2	Bahrain	6	3	2	1	11	3	+8	11	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup	0–2	—	0–0	3–0
3	Yemen	6	1	2	3	5	9	−4	5	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–3	0–2	—	2–2
4	Nepal	6	0	1	5	2	20	−18	1	Asian Cup qualifying third round	0–4	0–5	0–2	—

Source: FIFA AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

16 November 2023 1	Yemen	0–2	Bahrain	Abha, Saudi Arabia^{[note 1]}
21:00 UTC+3		Report	Marhoon 38' Al Zubaidi 48' (o.g.)	Stadium: Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium Attendance: 1,291 Referee: Kim Jong-hyeok (South Korea)

21 November 2023 2	Bahrain	0–2	United Arab Emirates	Riffa, Bahrain
18:45 UTC+4		Report	Ramadan 36' Mabkhout 90' (pen.)	Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium Attendance: 18,267 Referee: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia)

21 March 2024 3	Nepal	0–5	Bahrain	Riffa, Bahrain^{[note 2]}
22:00 UTC+3		Report	Al-Humaidan 2' Baqer 9' Madan 45+4' Al-Khatal 87' Abdullatif 90+6' (pen.)	Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium Attendance: 5,041 Referee: Alex King (Australia)

26 March 2024 4	Bahrain	3–0	Nepal	Riffa, Bahrain
22:00 UTC+3	Baqer 7' Helal 18' (pen.) Al-Aswad 36'	Report		Stadium: Bahrain National Stadium Attendance: 2,475 Referee: Ryo Tanimoto (Japan)

AFC Asian Cup

Group E

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
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

15 January 2024 1	South Korea	3–1	Bahrain	Al Rayyan, Qatar
14:30 UTC+3	Hwang In-beom 38' Lee Kang-in 56', 68'	Report	Al-Hashsash 51'	Stadium: Jassim bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 8,388 Referee: Ma Ning (China)

20 January 2024 2	Bahrain	1–0	Malaysia	Al Rayyan, Qatar
22:30 UTC+8	Madan 90+6'	Report		Stadium: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 10,386 Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

25 January 2024 3	Jordan	0–1	Bahrain	Al Rayyan, Qatar
14:30 UTC+3		Report	Helal 34'	Stadium: Khalifa International Stadium Attendance: 39,650 Referee: Omar Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)

Knockout stage

31 January 2024 Round of 16	Bahrain	1–3	Japan	Doha, Qatar
14:30 UTC+3	Ueda 64' (o.g.)	Report	Dōan 31' Kubo 49' Ueda 72'	Stadium: Al Thumama Stadium Attendance: 31,832 Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)

Bahrain national under-23 football team

AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Japan	3	2	1	0	7	0	+7	7	Final tournament
2	Palestine	3	2	0	1	3	2	+1	6
3	Bahrain (H)	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
4	Pakistan	3	0	0	3	2	11	−9	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

6 September 2023 1	Bahrain	0–1	Palestine	Arad, Bahrain
18:30 UTC+3		Report	Qunbar 90+1'	Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium Attendance: 317 Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)

9 September 2023 2	Pakistan	1–3	Bahrain	Arad, Bahrain
18:30 UTC+3	Ghazi 70'	Report	Haider 25', 48' Abdulkarim 49'	Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium Attendance: 180 Referee: Zaid Thamer Mohammed (Syria)

12 September 2023 3	Japan	0–0	Bahrain	Arad, Bahrain
18:30 UTC+3		Report		Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium Attendance: 271 Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)

Asian Games

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	China (H)	3	2	1	0	9	1	+8	7	Knockout stage
2	India	3	1	1	1	3	6	−3	4
3	Myanmar	3	1	1	1	2	5	−3	4
4	Bangladesh	3	0	1	2	0	2	−2	1

Source: Football – Men – Groups
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	3	2	1	0	7	0	+7	7	Knockout stage
2	Saudi Arabia	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7	Knockout stage
3	Vietnam	3	1	0	2	5	9	−4	3
4	Mongolia	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8	0

Source: Football – Men – Groups
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Uzbekistan	2	2	0	3	1	+2	6	Knockout stage
2	Hong Kong	2	0	2	1	3	−2	0	Knockout stage
3	Syria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew
4	Afghanistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: Football – Men – Groups
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	6	Knockout stage
2	Palestine	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1
3	Qatar	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2	1

Source: Football – Men – Groups
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	3	3	0	0	16	0	+16	9	Knockout stage
2	Bahrain	3	0	2	1	2	5	−3	2
3	Thailand	3	0	2	1	2	6	−4	2
4	Kuwait	3	0	2	1	2	11	−9	2

Source: Football – Men – Groups
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	North Korea	3	3	0	4	0	+4	9	Knockout stage
2	Kyrgyzstan	3	1	2	4	4	0	3^[a]
3	Indonesia	3	1	2	2	2	0	3^[a]
4	Chinese Taipei	3	1	2	2	6	−4	3^[a]

Source: Football – Men – Groups
Rules for classification: Group stage tierbreakers
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c Head-to-head goal differences: Kyrgyzstan 4–3, Indonesia 2–1, Chinese Taipei 2–4

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	F	Indonesia	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	3	Knockout stage
2	D	Qatar	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2	1
3	E	Thailand	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4	1
4	A	Myanmar	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4	1
5	B	Vietnam	2	0	0	2	1	7	−6	0

Source: Football – Men – Groups

19 September 2023 1	Bahrain	1–1	Thailand	Jinhua, China
16:00 UTC+8	Abdulkarim 42'	Report	Purachet 90+5'	Stadium: Jinhua Stadium Attendance: 2,048 Referee: Sayodjon Zainiddinov (Tajikistan)

21 September 2023 2	Kuwait	1–1	Bahrain	Jinhua, China
16:00 UTC+8	Al-Awadi 74'	Report	Redha 52'	Stadium: Jinhua Stadium Attendance: 1,250 Referee: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan)

24 September 2023 3	South Korea	3–0	Bahrain	Jinhua, China
19:30 UTC+8	Lee Han-beom 61' Paik Seung-ho 74' Goh Young-jun 84'	Report		Stadium: Jinhua Stadium Attendance: 19,084 Referee: Yousif Saeed Hasan (Iraq)

Knockout stage

27 September 2023 Round of 16	North Korea	2–0	Bahrain	Jinhua, China
16:30 UTC+8	Kang Kuk-chol 45+5' Kim Kuk-bom 63'	Report		Stadium: Zhejiang Normal University East Stadium Attendance: 7,321 Referee: Adel Al Naqbi (United Arab Emirates)

Men's football

AFC Cup

Qualifying play-offs

Play-off round

West Zone
Team 1	Score	Team 2
Al-Khaldiya	2–3	Al-Nahda

Group stage

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	RIF	ZWR	ARA	NEJ
1	Al-Riffa	6	4	1	1	15	5	+10	13	Zonal semi-finals	—	1–1	2–1	6–1
2	Al-Zawraa	6	3	2	1	11	7	+4	11		2–1	—	1–2	4–1
3	Al-Arabi	6	2	2	2	6	8	−2	8		0–3	1–1	—	0–0
4	Nejmeh	6	0	1	5	4	16	−12	1		0–2	1–2	1–2	—

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Knockout stage

Zonal semi-finals

West Asia Zone
Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Riffa	2–4	Al-Nahda	1–1	1–3 (a.e.t.)

Leagues

Premier League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Khaldiya (C)	22	12	8	2	45	18	+27	44	Qualification for the AFC Champions League Two group stage
2	Al-Riffa	22	10	7	5	35	26	+9	37^[a]
3	Al-Muharraq	22	9	10	3	40	28	+12	37^[a]
4	Al-Ahli	22	9	6	7	32	30	+2	33^[b]	Qualification for the AFC Champions League Two qualiying play-offs^[c]
5	Manama	22	9	6	7	28	26	+2	33^[b]
6	Al-Najma	22	7	6	9	40	42	−2	27^[d]
7	Al-Shabab	22	7	6	9	28	33	−5	27^[d]
8	Sitra	22	5	11	6	29	33	−4	26^[e]
9	Al-Hidd (R)	22	6	8	8	29	33	−4	26^[e]	Qualification for Relegation play-offs
10	East Riffa (O)	22	6	8	8	27	29	−2	26^[e]	Qualification for Relegation play-offs
11	Al-Hala (R)	22	6	2	14	17	41	−24	20	Relegation to Bahraini Second Division
12	Busaiteen (R)	22	4	6	12	26	37	−11	18	Relegation to Bahraini Second Division

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: Points, Head-to-head points, Head-to-head goal difference, Head-to-head goals scored, Total goal difference, Total goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Al-Riffa: 4 pts, Al-Muharraq: 1 pts.
^ ^a ^b Al-Ahli: 4 pts, Manama: 1 pts.
^ Al-Ahli qualified for the AFC Champions League Two qualifying play-offs as the 2023–24 Bahraini King's Cup winners.
^ ^a ^b Tied on head-to-head tiebreakers. Overall goal difference used.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sitra: 6 pts, Al-Hidd: 5 pts, East Riffa: 3 pts.

Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bahrain SC (C, P)	22	15	4	3	49	20	+29	49	Promotion to Bahraini Premier League
2	A'Ali (P)	22	13	7	2	46	16	+30	46	Promotion to Bahraini Premier League
3	Malkiya (O, P)	22	12	9	1	37	8	+29	45	Qualification for Promotion play-offs
4	Al-Ittihad	22	13	4	5	39	25	+14	43	Qualification for Promotion play-offs
5	Budaiya	22	11	8	3	32	12	+20	41
6	Al-Ittifaq Maqaba	22	9	5	8	41	28	+13	32
7	Isa Town	22	7	6	9	25	31	−6	27
8	Buri	22	5	9	8	19	27	−8	24
9	Umm Al-Hassam	22	5	3	14	22	36	−14	18
10	Qalali	22	5	3	14	15	39	−24	18
11	Etehad Al-Reef	22	4	5	13	19	55	−36	17
12	Al-Tadamun	22	0	3	19	8	55	−47	3

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: Points, Goal difference, Goals scored, Head-to-head points, Head-to-head goal difference, Head-to-head goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Play-offs

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Malkiya (P)	3	2	1	0	8	4	+4	7	Promotion to Bahraini Premier League
2	East Riffa	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3	7	Promotion to Bahraini Premier League
3	Al-Hidd (R)	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2	3	Relegation to Bahraini Second Division
4	Al-Ittihad	3	0	0	3	2	7	−5	0	Relegation to Bahraini Second Division

Source: Soccerway
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Cup competitions

King's Cup

Final

9 March 2023

18:30

Al-Ahli	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Muharraq
Phoenix 7'	Report	Abdulkarim 84'
Penalties
	4–2

Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

FA Cup

Final

23 March 2023

21:45

Al-Shabab	0–1	Manama
	Report	36'

Super Cup

13 September 2024

19:00

Al-Khaldiya	2–0	Al-Hala
Abduljabbar 70' Al-Yahyaei 90+5'	Report

Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town

Notes

^ Yemen played their home matches at a neutral venue due to the ongoing Yemeni civil war.
^ Nepal played their final two home matches at a neutral venue due to the Dasharath Rangasala failing to meet FIFA standard.^[1]

References

^ "Nepali team compelled to play in Bahrain following deterioration of Dasharath stadium ground". 11 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.

[table_hth_KGZ0.57593809979779-4] Head-to-head goal differences: Kyrgyzstan 4–3, Indonesia 2–1, Chinese Taipei 2–4

[table_hth_RIF0.42686928782001-5] Al-Riffa: 4 pts, Al-Muharraq: 1 pts.

[table_hth_AHL0.42686928782001-6] Al-Ahli: 4 pts, Manama: 1 pts.

[table_note_res_ACLTPO0.42686928782001-7] Al-Ahli qualified for the AFC Champions League Two qualifying play-offs as the 2023–24 Bahraini King's Cup winners.

[table_hth_NAJ0.42686928782001-8] Tied on head-to-head tiebreakers. Overall goal difference used.

[table_hth_SIT0.42686928782001-9] Sitra: 6 pts, Al-Hidd: 5 pts, East Riffa: 3 pts.

[Yemen-1] Yemen played their home matches at a neutral venue due to the ongoing Yemeni civil war.

[Nepal-3] Nepal played their final two home matches at a neutral venue due to the Dasharath Rangasala failing to meet FIFA standard.^[1]

[2] "Nepali team compelled to play in Bahrain following deterioration of Dasharath stadium ground". 11 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.

[note 1]

[note 2]

[a]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[1]