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AFC Asian Cup 2019: How India's opponents Bahrain qualified for the finals

Czech manager Miroslav Soukup took charge of the Reds in July 2016 aiming to better three consecutive Asian Cup group stage exits. The Gulf nation entered the&nbsp;​2nd round 2018 FIFA World Cup - 2019 AFC Asian Cup Joint Qualification in Group H, alongside Uzbekistan, DPR Korea, Philippines and Yemen.

Al-Ahmar march in

Bahrain finished second-bottom in the group with three wins in eight games and joined 23 other teams in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers. There, they were clubbed with Turkmenistan, Chinese Taipei and Singapore in Group E.

No Russian ticket

28 March 2017 | Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa | The campaign started with a dour stalemate at home.

Bahrain 0-0 Singapore

13 June 2017 | Sport Toplumy Stadium, Dasoguz | Goals from Mohamed Al Romaihi and Abdulla Yaser wrapped up full points in Central Asia before Myrat Ýagşyýew got a late consolation.

Turkmenistan 1-2 Bahrain

5 September 2017 | Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa | Mahdi Abduljabbar's brace combined with goals from Komail Al-Aswad, Ali Madan and Abdulla Yusuf Helal sent the minnows packing.

Bahrain 5-0 Chinese Taipei

10 October 2017 | Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei | The East Asian got sweet revenge for their earlier thrashing. Ismail Abdullatif got the visitors ahead early but two injury-time goals from Chen Po-Liang and Chu En-Le shocked Bahrain to their only defeat in the group.

Chinese Taipei 2-1 Bahrain

14 November 2017 | National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore | Two on the night from Mahdi Abduljabbar and Jamal Rashid's goal sandwiched in between them made sure the Reds got maximum points.

Singapore 0-3 Bahrain

27 March 2018 | Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa | Abdulla Yusuf Helal recorded a brace in the first half. Sayed Reda Issa and Abdulla Yaser scored in the second to take the Reds to a sixth Asian Cup finals tournament on the last day of qualifying. Bahrain ended as group winners with 13 points, leaping over Turkmenistan in second on 10 points as both sides made it to AFC's showpiece event.

Bahrain 4-0 Turkmenistan

AFC Asian Cup 2019: How India's opponents Bahrain qualified for the finals | Goal.com English Saudi Arabia

India face the Reds on 14 January 2019 at the Sharjah Stadium. Goal takes a look at how their qualifying campaign panned out...

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