A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
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| Nickname(s) | مُحَارِبِيّ دِيْلمُون (Muharabi Dilmun, Dilmun's Warriors) غَوَاصِيْنُ الْلُؤْلُؤْ (Ghawaseen Al-Lulu, The Pearl Divers) الأَحمَر (The Reds) الشياطين الحمر (The Red Devils) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Bahrain Football Association | ||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Sub-confederation | WAFF (West Asia) | ||
| Head coach | Dragan Talajić | ||
| Captain | Sayed Dhiya Saeed | ||
| Most caps | Sayed Mohammed Jaffer (162)[1] | ||
| Top scorer | Ismail Abdullatif (48)[1] | ||
| Home stadium | Bahrain National Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | BHR | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 80  2 (4 April 2024)[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 | 8 (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) | ||
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.
History
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2022) |
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 waved the Saudi flag as a response to 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
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.
